The Lady of Slytherin-Dark Beginnings
by Nemesis13
Summary: Lillith Potter, The-Girl-Who-Lived, appears before Severus Snape bleeding and broken at the age of six. Determined to protect his dead friends daughter from sharing her mothers fate he raises her to be brutally pragmatic, viciously opportunistic, and violently protective of those she loves with the help of the Black Sisters. Dad!Snape, Mentor!Bellatrix, DarkFem!Harry, Third Year
1. Dark Begininngs

**Chapter Edited Extensively 5/29/2016**

**This story, while one of my more popular works, is an exercise in madness. Do not proceed to read it if you are bothered by references to child abuse, torture, murder, rape, revenge, and generalized insanity.**

**You have been warned.**

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**Original A/N**

**To new readers, what to expect: Supportive and deliciously sarcastic Daddy Snape, amused and delightfully vindictive Uncles Sirius and Remus, Crazy (capital C) mentor Aunt Bellatrix, loving Aunt Andromeda, and endearingly scheming Aunt Narcissa. Emphasis throughout will be that just because it's dark doesn't make it evil, just because it's light doesn't make it good, nothing is what it seems and what appeared to be a defined path to follow soon unravels in the presence of a powerful and jaded little girl.**

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A small girl spasmed in the throes of agony inside the cupboard beneath the stairs of 4 Privet Drive Surrey, England. She was six year old Lillith Dorea Potter, she'd only learned her name seven months ago on her first day at primary school, before then she'd only been known as 'girl' and 'freak'. Her relatives, who on several occasions made it very clear were _not_ her family, had always treated her coldly. Dudley would attack her for no reason, Aunt Petunia would ignore her, and Vernon would...use her.

Today had been the worst of it. Aunt Petunia had taken Dudley out for something of no importance to avoid her husbands predictable ire leaving Lillith the only one in the house when a drunken Vernon had come home from a bad day at work.

This was not the first time the cowardly woman had used her innocent niece in such a manner, but it would be the last.

So little Lillith Potter did as she always had and offered to fix Vernon's dinner, mix his drink, make him...feel better despite how much it disgusted her, but tonight something changed. He'd eyed her for a bit then without any warning the disgusting pig of a man had grabbed her by her long matted black hair and dragged her to his room screaming.

When the pathetic excuse for a human being was finished he'd dragged her back down to her cupboard and thrown her bloody form into the dark space smashing her head against her pathetic little cot. She had laid there, violated in ways she couldn't truly comprehend for hours as the pain between her legs spread, her lifes blood pumping out in weak spurts on the dusty floor.

That's when she heard the voice, "_Oh child what have those muggles done to you? You one of the elite, one of the High Ladies? Why are you even here? You are a Potter and the descendant of a Black, you deserve so much more then to be the toy of a bloody muggle."_ Lillith didn't know what to say to the strange voice in her head, she'd often heard that when you start responding to your own thoughts it was a sign of insanity.

Considering the alternative she quite happily accepted the idea of being crazy and soon replied. "I don't know what I did, it's always like this, my parents were worthless drunks and saddled my relatives with me when they died," the voice in her head felt as if it had reeled back in disgust before deigning to respond.

_"Your parents were not killed in a car accident dear child, they were killed by the greatest Dark Wizard in Great Britain, they themselves were the most feared Auror's in all her Majesty's Magical Government. James and Lily Potter were the best of the best, and were only ever defeated by the best, and in the end even they had the last laugh against him."_

Despite the blood drenching her ragged gown and her growing weakness she couldn't help but ask, "You...you knew parents, what were they like?"

The dark voice in her head softened its tone, _"Dear child as much as I wish to tell you I'm sorry to say you are not long for this world, what the bastard muggle did to you has destroyed your undeveloped body, soon you will die..."_

The girl, much to the voices horror sighed in relief, "Oh...good...the hurting stops when you die, right?"

The voice, if it had a corporeal form, would probably be licking parched lips in shock at the moment. _"Aren't you afraid of death dear child?" _

The girl laughed for the first time, it sounded like a painful gasp from her cracked and blood stained lips. "Afraid? Death is not scary, living is what's scary." The voice paused processing that, scanning the girls memories it honestly couldn't disagree with her which horrified the entity formally known as Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"_What if I were to offer you a way to live, to punish those that hurt you, to protect those you loved, and to become the strongest witch ever?"_

She was silent for a moment then asked, "Witch?" Ah, fair enough, these filthy muggles would have taught her nothing of her birthright, of her superiority to them in every way imaginable, Tom darkly reflected on what he had planned for the vermin as he answered her query.

_"Yes child, magical girls are called witches and magical boys are called wizards, you are a witch, an incredibly powerful witch who had her magic bound by a meddling old man who had no right to place you with these monsters. I know for a fact your mother and father wanted you to stay with either Sirius Black or Severus Snape, your godfather and your mothers best friend respectfully."_

The girl smiled as her heart began to beat its last, "I'm magic? I have a godfather? A friend? I would have liked to have met them..."

As her vision began to fog the voice reached a tendril of will towards her, _"I'm not a nice person little one, in fact I'm the one who caused your parents to die, but I never wished for a magical child to end up like this and I myself am terrified of oblivion. If you allow it I'll give you my power, my knowledge. You will live and become the strongest most feared witch of your day, or you may die in this cupboard, forgotten by all."_

The girl sighed one last time as Death brought her into his embrace, "Will I find people to love...and can I make sure they never feel _**this**_?" She spat this out along with flecks of blood, Tom mentally nodded in turn.

"_I will be you, you will be me, and we'll never let those we care about fall this far, never again."_

Smiling happily the little girl said, "ok" just as her life ended.

As a flash of light encompassed the broken body a dark mist sprayed from the scar on the abused girls forehead and her savaged form underwent a rudimentary healing. Suddenly the heart beat that had just stopped became stronger then ever and the bloodied child sat up.

Emerald eyes that had only ever shown with dull lifelessness now glowed with an inner light of resolve and a hint of bitter hatred, standing she observed her surroundings then nodded slightly, yes she remembered all this. What was new was the revulsion, these bloody muggles, how dare they treat a Lady like common chattel?

Sneering she swept a hand at the locked door sending it crashing against the far wall, the resulting sound muffled by her power so as to not wake the Dursleys. Stepping out she wandered the house casting unbreakable enchants on all the windows and magically locking all the doors, as she finished she took a single lit candle and tossed it on a pile of papers scattered on the floor.

Watching the flames spread she let a smile crawl across her bloodied face, once the sitting room was in a proper inferno she removed the unbreakable charm from a couple windows to let the glass break and allow the beautiful flames to breath. Stepping out onto the front stoop she cast a locking charm on the door and grabbed a full milk bottle and the newspaper off the cold concrete. Looking at the date she realized it was the weekend and Petunia and Dudley were likely both home especially at this hour, taking a swig from the milk bottle she shrugged and walked away from the blazing cookie cutter house ignoring the desperate pounding on the front door.

As she turned to view her handiwork she couldn't help but smirk in appreciation at the fruits of her efforts, as far as impromptu pyres went this one would work splendidly. As people began to gather she heard the voice in her head speak one final time.

_"Severus begged for me to spare you and your mother when I went after your family, go to him now, knock on his door and when he answers simply state, "Mum told me if I was ever in trouble to come to you Uncle Sev." That ought to play on the old heartstrings and get us to someone who will look after you properly."_

Smirking a bit she asked, "Thanks for the tip, who were you my friend?"

As the voice faded away it stated, _"Call me Tom kiddo, take care of yourself,_" and with that the voice faded as it used its last bit of control over the girl to apparate her before the rundown home of Severus Snape.

The man in question hated his home, he had only come back for the Easter Hols to get away from the little brats that had stayed behind. He felt no interest in watching over the brats when they were in his classroom and forcing him to do so outside of it was laughable at best. As he brooded in his inherited home reading a book in the subdued candlelight he was drawn from his thoughts when he caught the echo of what sounded like an apparation.

Slamming the tome shut the young Potions Master tossed it on his unmade bed as he made for the front door, cracking it slightly he froze in mid-motion, what stood there perplexed him beyond words. There was a tiny slip of a girl wearing a filthy grey nightdress splattered with blood gasping lightly in the cool morning air. Her dark hair was matted and caked in blood and filth, her face stained with ash.

She then looked upon him with bright vibrant emerald eyes and he felt his heart catch as she whimpered out, "Uncle Sev...mum always said if I was to come to trouble to run to you or Padfo..." and with that her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she collapsed.

Severus rushed forward and grabbed the battered child before she hit the unyielding ground, staring down at Lily's daughter Severus let his analytical mind do what it did best. '_Too light, underfed, shows sign of horrible malnutrition and abuse, bruising indicates repeated beatings, blood at her...oh Merlin..." _gritting his teeth in rage he let out a short scream before shaking his head.

Realizing he had to get her help immediately he scooped the slight form in a bridal carry and apparated to Saint Mungo's, the nurse on duty took one look at his wild eyed shock and the horribly abused filth stained child in his arms and quickly jumped into action.

"Who is she and what is her relation to you?"

Now on autopilot he replied, "I believe she's my childhood friends daughter, Lillith Potter, she just appeared at my home begging for help."

The nurse gasped looking at the bleeding bundle in his arms, "The-Girl-Who-Lived?! Merlin save us...follow me healer Tonks will look to her immediately."

Nodding Severus followed the nurse into a sterile white room occupied by a woman that looked disturbingly like Bellatrix, although her violet eyes were filled with a kind passion rather then manic energy, and her hair was a soft chocolate brown rather then raven black. The eldest Black sister snatched Lillith from his arms and placed her on the bed without a word, vanishing the girl's clothing Severus had to force down the urge to vomit as he saw the real damage imparted on the child.

The healer growled viciously and glanced to the man who brought her in but her temper cooled instantly when she saw the horror writ across his face, "Please escort the gentleman to the waiting room nurse, this is going to be an all nighter."

Not resisting the pull Severus allowed himself to be guided to one of the hospitals uncomfortable chairs, he stared down at his blood stained hands for a few minutes then for the first time since Lily's death, he wept.

"What have they done to you little one?" He sobbed out, after a time he felt his sorrow harden into anger, no matter what came of this, if the girl survived he would protect her, she was the only piece of Lily left in this world and she would need to be kept safe.

He'd failed the mother, he would not fail the daughter. His resolve set Severus waited on pins and needles, fully expecting the worst and praying for the first time in his life for the best. He wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep, but when the nurse woke him he was sore in all the wrong places.

She gave him a sad smile as she said, "Your young friends going to make it, Andromeda is the best we have and she was able to repair all the damage although there is going to be quite of a bit of rehabilitation involved. We need your help though, when we tried to look up the child's guardians there was no one listed, when we contacted the ministry we were informed the Potter will had been sealed by the Supreme Mugwomp.

"The only copy the hospital can access is from Gringotts and only those listed in the will can access and execute it, you're listed in the will Mister Snape, would you go so we can help the girl?" Gritting his teeth and holding back a sneer the young man nodded briskly, damned meddling old man. Checking in on Lillith and seeing that she was sleeping soundly he made for the apparation zone in the lobby and appeared before Gringotts.

Sweeping up the stairs as his cloak billowed behind him he was met in the lobby by a very nervous looking goblin who rushed up to Severus smiling weakly.

"Thank fortune, the only people left alive that can execute this will are you and Mr. Sirius Black, but seeing as he was thrown into Azkaban without trial and all post sent to you has been redirected we thought it would never be heard."

Severus's dark eyes bugged out at that, he may despise Black with every fiber of his being but never being tried for his crimes?! He was the bloody heir to the Black lordship for Merlin's sake how was that even possible! Shaking his head the second bit finally hit him, there was only one person in Hogwarts that could redirect a Professors post and that was of course the Headmaster, he wasn't surprised in the slightest.

Suppressing the urge to growl in irritation he asked, "What do you need me for...sir?" He tagged the last bit on due to Lily's rantings about equality and respect but it seemed to please the diminutive creature regardless.

"Well, we've been waiting to read the Lady of Slytherin's holdings from her parents will for nearly five years, but every time we tried to bring it out in the open the Supreme Mugwump slammed it back down, with you here he has no chance to interfere."

Pausing trying to process what he just heard Severus carefully responded with, "The, the Lady of Slytherin?"

Nodding quickly the goblin motioned him forward to a private room, "It's her most prestigious title after all. The Lady Lillith Dorea Potter-Peverell-Slytherin has been denied her birthright since the day her parents had been murdered. Since you're listed on the will as a guardian I can freely tell you she inherited the Potter and Peverell titles from her father and the Slytherin from her mother. With the death of the last Heir of Slytherin, who never claimed his lordship as it turns out, she is next in line and we have much to discuss. Luckily since it's _YOU_ here we can begin the process of her taking her titles."

Severus shook his head for what felt like the thousandth time today, "Why because I'm here?"

The goblin looked surprised before he replied, "Well Mr. Snape, I don't mean to alarm you but you are Lillith's only remaining legal guardian, we've been trying to get a hold of you since November 1st 1981 to take custody of your charge, and more importantly reopen her investment portfolios." Severus felt his jaw drop as the implications hit him. Gathering his wits and recomposing himself Severus returned his gaze to the goblin who began to shift uncomfortably as the mans previously icy black eyes began to glow with an inner rage.

"Tell. Me. Everything."


	2. Plots and Revelations

_**So just letting you all know there will be sporadic updates to this story, it takes quite a bit of heavy metal to get me into the mood to write these darker stories so take what you can when you get it. I'm setting up Lillith's support system of adults this and next chapter, after that we'll be jumping to right before and into the first year of Hogwarts, writing the Lilly/Tom mentor relationship is so much fun so there will probably be another update soon.**_

_**Oh, and edited the last chapter a bit, nothing major just a bunch of typos and one minor ret-con, anywho, enjoy and review!**_

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Severus sat in a chair just outside of Lillith's hospital room mulling over what the goblins had enlightened him to, Lily Potter nee Evans had in fact been the Heiress of Slytherin yet had never taken up the title. This in on itself made sense on a few levels, Lily was the kindest soul the Potions Master had ever met _but_ she was also ruthlessly cunning and brutally efficient when it came to venting her fiery temper. Couple that with the obvious blood war and association that Slytherin had with the Dark Lord and well...it was no wonder she hid it, but the same could not be said for the daughter; for all intents and purposes Lillith won the title of Lady of Slytherin through birthright and conquest October 31, 1981 when the Dark Lord fell.

Sighing he ran his hands through his freshly cleaned hair then leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling tiles, that had been relatively easy to swallow compared to the other news, he, an occulamancy master had apparently been obliviated nearly a dozen times by someone far more powerful then he in the past five years. The goblins had been able to remove the majority of the blockage and every instance had been him leaving the castle to check on Lillith out of his sense of duty to the mother and his personal accounts at Gringots, the perpetrator could be only one Wizard and that opened oh so many more problems for the young man.

"How the rudding hell am I going to sneak this past the old meddler?" He whispered to himself sadly, he heard a quiet *Ahem* and glanced up to see the healer who had repaired the child, "Yes Healer Tonks?" She smiled weakly and sat next to him crossing her legs and tapping her chin gently with finger,

"I...don't know the full extent of what's happening here but if there's one thing my father managed to instill in me it is the ability to recognize a power play when I see one, is it safe to say whoever placed young Miss Potter with those muggles had no authority to do so?" He tensed a bit but realized in a crowded hospital he really had no way to deal with her, so he simply nodded and hoped for the best. The beautiful yet tired looking healer met his eyes as she continued,

"Since you're now registered as the childs guardian and I happened to notice her new title on the certificate you have two ways to handle this, complete subversion keeping the responsible party in the dark and hoping to stay in the shadows, or..." She let out a humorless laugh while shaking her head, "Or you can drop the entire thing into the public spotlight, every dirty little secret outside of...outside of what happened to that poor sweet girl last night. If you let the wizarding world know that all legal guardians for 'The-Girl-Who-Lived' had either been killed, imprisoned, incapacitated or as in your case kept in the dark so she could be housed with muggles that abused her well..."

Severus stared at her a moment looking a bit gobsmacked, the healer laughed at this shaking her head lightly, "Don't be so shocked, we might not have run in the same circles but you of all people should be aware of the fact I was born a Black, this sort of thing comes naturally to us..." Sighing again she stretched a bit like a cat then stood up, "If you need tutors for the girl well...she is a relative, I'm sure Bellatrix would be as willing as I to help teach her on how to act the proper pureblood once my sister hears about the title." She noticed Severus go rigid at that and waited for his response,

"Her...husband and I have a history, albeit one more cordial then I had with his associates..." At that she shrugged,

"As far as I'm concerned Remus Lupin is a good man, he has a respectable job as the Potter Estate steward and he's the only man I've ever met who can keep my sisters...eccentricities in check, she's told me his old schoolyard gang use to get into it with you often but you're going to have to decide who you want helping raise the girl." Meeting his black gaze with her violet she gave him a final sad smile, "Do you want the outcasts who know how things work and how to avoid becoming someones pawn, or those that would turn her into the next Lucius Malfoy?" With that the healer left him to check on her patient, leaving Severus to his thoughts.

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Lillith was in what Tom's inherited memories called a dreamscape, it took the form of a massive library that went as far as the eye could see, she spun around a bit and felt a skirt twirl around as she did so. Pausing she looked down and gasped as she realized she was wearing an extravagant emerald green gown and it hugged her adult body in all the right places, panicking slightly she heard an amused laugh behind her. Turning quickly the most beautiful man she'd ever seen was leaning against a bookshelf, his cool dark eyes and coiffed coal black hair accentuating his fine chiseled features and relaxed indifference

"Looking good killer eyes," with that he gestured before her and a floor length mirror appeared, Lillith approached it and gasped covering her mouth with both hands, the woman in the reflection was tall and lithe, raven hair pulled into an elaborate series of braids framing her heartshape face. There was just a touch of blush and eyeliner to complement her porcelain skin and glowing eyes, the dress matching their shade of green perfectly, "This is what you have to look forward to since you accepted my help, well worth it I think." Collecting herself she shrunk back down to the emaciated six year old with a middle aged mad geniuses vocabulary,

"Hello Tom, I thought you were gone?" He smirked at her and bowed offering his hand to her,

"If my Lady would follow me?" Grinning she took the offered hand happily and let him guide her through the library,

"I am what I'd call...a shade of who I was, the last bit of goodness left in the man once known as Tom Riddle, I'll remain here in the back of your mind guiding you along as you grow up, regulating what knowledge you can access so as not to raise anyone's suspicions, after all a little girl able to blow up a building with her mind would raise some suspicions." She nodded at this and looked up at him with a bit of adoration,

"We have to stay calm and be Slytherin about it right Tom?" Nodding with a smirk he continued,

"The number one rule of being a Slytherin is this, 'Don't Get Caught', that's why we burnt your relatives alive rather then butchering them as they deserved, no one is really going to suspect you of foul play but if you had shown up at Saint Mungo's coated head to toe in blood with the Dursley's left in fillet form well...it'd raise questions wouldn't it?" She nodded with a grim smirk curling up her lips,

"Would have been satisfying though," Tom nodded in agreement,

"Indeed my young apprentice, indeed, but there will be more enemies to vent our rage on later on, they seem to come out of the woodwork when their betters decide to take what is rightfully theirs." He stopped before a bookshelf with the number '6' emblazoned above it, "This is the knowledge I will impart on you until you reach the age of seven, it will progressively expand as you get older, the black volumes are my memories, the green will be yours." Nodding she was sad to see how few of the books were hers personally, she vowed then to give an equal contribution to what Tom gave her.

"I need to become stronger...so that never happens to me again..." Tom gave her a sad smile as he picked her up and held her in a firm hug,

"You young one may possibly be the only person I've ever felt even the idlest inkling of attachment for, we'll make you a force that no one will see coming and couldn't possibly stop even if they tried, you'll be the snake waiting in the grass, fangs dripping with venom ready to strike." She nuzzled her head into Tom's neck as the dreamscape began to fade,

"I can't wait..."

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Andromeda stuck her head out of the doorway gesturing towards Severus, he stood and entered the room to see Lillith happily downing a plate of scrambled eggs, the little girl looked up at him with bright green eyes, Lily's eyes, and smiled Lily's smile, his heart ached at the sight.

"Hello! Aunt Andi tells me you saved me! Thank you so much!" Pausing he looked towards the slightly bashful Andromeda Tonks,

"I uh...let it slip we're related, to say she was excited would be an understatement," rolling his eyes Severus approached the bed and pulled a chair up next to it, taking his seat he met the girls gaze and she stared back evenly.

"You little one, are disturbingly like your mother, lets just hope you don't take too much after your father, Merlin help us..." she gave him a queer look at that but then smiled again,

"Can you tell me about my parents Uncle Sev, please?" Trying and failing to suppress the smirk that flashed across his face he nodded and spent the next hour letting her know about her past, he was quite proud of himself for only calling James a dunderhead and git twice, it seemed to amuse her oddly enough so all was well there. Eventually her bright visage darkened and she nervously dragged a thin finger across her blankets, "Do I have to go back to the Dursley's?" Grimacing at that he decided to refrain telling her they were quite thoroughly dead for the time being and just give her the good news instead,

"No little one, I've been appointed your new guardian, and there are many people who want to be a part of your life who will help you adjust, if you pick things up as quickly as your mother and-" he begrudgingly admitted this next part "-your father we're going to have a hard time keeping up with you." She smiled at that,

"So...so are you my new dad?" His heart once again felt like it was failing, but a warm kernal of...something began to grow there, after a moment he realized with some shock that it was happiness, smiling sadly the former Potions Master of the fallen Dark Lord Voldemort replied,

"Yes, I'm going to be your new dad," she squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, as he thought about how he was going to pull this off and be a good role model Lillith's thoughts went elsewhere

_'Tom is so unlucky he was born a boy, adults just can't stand up to a little girls cuteness, this is going to be ever so much fun!'_

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_**Yeah I hooked up Remus and Bellatrix, I'll explain next chapter but for now lets just say I wanted them in the story and this worked, please REVIEW!**_

_**Author Edit-Reviewer was asking if this was a Lilly/Hermione story, honestly I think it might eventually swing into femslash if for no other reason then most of the rape victims I've met have a distinct disinclination to let men anywhere near them (One of the reasons I write the femslash thing so often is simply because of the shear amount of bi and lesbian friends I have, they're a very helpful sounding board). *Shrug* I will give you this bit, they will be best friends and it WILL cause some...issues for the House of Snakes and it will all play into Lilly and Tom's plans.**_


	3. Meet the Lupins

**So thought I should clarify something quickly, Lillith is speaking at a ridiculously advanced level for a seven year old and while it is noted by the adults in her life she is running into the same issue Harry did but it works in her benefit. Everyone sees Lily and James in her, and they were both scary intelligent, so they don't really ask questions as to why their daughter seems to be so ****perceptive, that and Severus is more then happy to raise a child he doesn't have to dumb himself down to be understood so he kinda turns a blind eye to it.**

**OH! And I forgot I played with the Black sisters ages to make them work in my story, Andi is the oldest, Bella is 4-5 years older then Remus and Cissy is still the youngest, it's nothing story breaking so all good =)**

**Now, that being said, nothing quite as dark as the last chapters in this one, mostly due to her being surrounded by responsible adults that _will_ rather notice her plotting to take over the world, Hogwarts is certainly going to be in for a surprise though, anyway as always REVIEW!**

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Even with magic and the expert skills of Andromeda Tonks and her co-workers Lillith's rehabilitation to undo years of neglect and abuse was a time consuming process, it took more then four months for her to be given a clean bill of health and even then she was kept on a strict regime of nutrition and growth potions. Truth be told she rather felt like a house plant after each dosing but in the end it was worth it, she was healthier then she ever had been before and no longer carried physical signs of what she'd endured by the time the summer hols came along.

Lilly hadn't been sitting idle in that time, she'd been grilling her 'Aunt Andi' and the other staff members on wizarding society and culture doing her best to learn how a Lady was supposed to act, Tom _may_ have been a vast repository of knowledge but he had no idea how a woman was suppose to behave...thank Morgana. Professor Snape visited her every weekend and would try to keep her mind off her abuse by regaling her with stories of her mothers youth, to be honest the part of her that was an attention starving six year old loved these discussions.

It wasn't until her new dad took her home to Spinner's End (which apparently he'd taken great care to clean up for her stay) that she finally asked what had been on her mind this entire time,

"Daddy...I...the man who made me stay with the Dursley's, why hasn't he tried to-" what did Tom call it again? Right, "-to 'meddle in matters he hasn't a right to?" Snape for all his shortcomings was actually ecstatic the child had such a ridiculous vocabulary, it meant he didn't have to dumb himself down to be understood like with his dunderhead students so he chose to ignore the abnormality.

"Well dear it's rather funny you mention that, I'd made a series of elaborate plans to either hide you from prying eyes or drop the entire story in the media and let the old goat deal with the damage control, but as always Albus keeps his own council and trusts himself more then anyone else."

Snape snorted at this while rolling his dark eyes, "He has a series of instruments tied to your blood to monitor you and the Dursley's home, apparently he trusts in them enough that he has not checked on you once in the past five years, and since they're apparently in working order he is none the wiser." Lillith hopped onto the small but comfy bed her dad had prepared for her and gave him a look of consternation,

"He's...he's, he doesn't know? I mean... huh..." Snape patted her on her head affectionately,

"Indeed, we'll be spending most of our summer holidays introducing you to several people who were friends of your parents or have a vested interest in keeping you out from under the old mans thumb, while school is in session the Tonks' family has volunteered to look after you. Ted tonks is a muggle-born solicitor and an amateur historian of both the magical and mundane worlds, my hopes are that being surrounded by both cultures you form your own opinions." She smiled and nodded at this,

"I want to be strong and powerful, so no one can hurt me again and that means no knowledge is wasted, I'll do as you suggest," he smiled at her as he then began to pace about,

"Now if only my students would just get that through their thick skulls I'd actually enjoy my job, the day after your birthday I'll be taking you to meet your Aunt Andi's sister Bellatrix and her husband Remus Lupin..." a look of distaste crossed his face but he schooled it quickly, "Bellatrix is...not all there but she's a genius when it comes to occulamancy and spell crafting, she also dabbles in enchanting so she'll make a fine tutor, she and Andi will be teaching you about Pure-Blood society as well." Lillith cocked her head to the side, Tom had very little knowledge of Bellatrix Lupin nee Black so she had to find out for herself,

"Daddy why is she ummm...'not all there?' as you put it?" Snape grimaced as he thought how to put this to a disturbingly intelligent child that just went through the same thing the woman in question had,

"Bella...the Blacks are a very dark family, well for the most part, and they follow the old ways, arranged marriages, old gods, so on and so forth, and so Andromeda Black was put into an arranged marriage to the LeStrange family. She pulled a runner, she actually cursed the words "Bugger Off" into her mothers parlor wall if rumors are to be believed," Lilly giggled at that, she just spent four months with the woman at her bedside, she completely believed it.

Snape cleared his throat and continued, "The contract then fell to Bellatrix who was if anything _more_ wild and independent then her sister, so her father in his infinite wisdom used ancient (and very illegal) blood runes to ensure her compliance, are you absorbing all this child?" Lilly sat there a moment processing it all through her Tom filter then nodded for him to continue, "The thing is the LeStrange boys were brutes, plain and simple, and one evening they decided to...*sigh*...'test the goods' as it were. Lillith's face curled up into a vicious scowl and her eyes glowed faintly,

"Bastards..." picking her up off the bed the Potions Master sat on it himself placing her on a knee to give her a hug,

"Quite, the blood runes were to enforce that the wife to be remains...pure before marriage, even if the deed was done with her betrothed, one of the side effects of violating the contract was sadly mental damage... the LeStrange's got far enough along to hurt her mind but not far enough to drive her completely mad due to one Remus Lupin."

Lillith _and_ Tom were both listening with rapt attention now, "Remus was only a second year and they seventh's but he had one thing they did not...the knowledge that he was a gentleman and a werewolf." She gasped at that, a werewolf, at Hogwarts?! Was the headmaster insane? Snape continued unabated, "If you're curious what a cricket bat does to a teenagers skull when swung by an enraged adolescent lyconthrope I suggest you ask the Lupin's in a week, suffice it to say the LeStrange's were expelled and Bella's marriage contract was dissolved."

"What happened then?" She asked with a bit of apprehension, he smiled down at her rocking her a bit,

"Not much for quite some time, after our class graduated Lupin ran into Bella at a pub, apparently she'd been disowned by the family because she was seen as "Used" by the other pureblood families and was working a dead end ministry job while she freelanced spell creation, they hit it off, got drunk, somehow ended up in Paris married a week later neither aware how they ended up there. That's when your father offered Lupin the job as your families Steward, from what I heard from your mother he had to have the job forced on him, he does not like handouts." Lillith was a mix of amused, sad, and angry at all this,

"If he's my family steward why had he never come to visit me, to make sure I was safe?" Snape sighed at that one, she wasn't going to like this a single bit.

"Because no one but Albus knew were you were being kept ostensibly for your safety, I checked the remains of the Dursley home to gather the spent ward stones and had them checked, anti-dark creature and owl repelling wards were just two of the many 'protections' preventing anyone from finding you." Lilly sighed and began knocking her head against his arm in aggravation,

"Meddling old man...daddy I'm ready for bed..." smiling he placed her in the bed and tucked her in, he bade her good night and blew out the candles, gently closing her door he had one pleasant thought before retiring for the evening himself, there would be at least one powerful child that old bastard would never be able to sway to his side with his grandfatherly act.

A week later Lillith was thrown a small birthday party with her dad and the Tonks family where she (and Tom sadly enough) received her first presents ever, dad got her an apprentice potion makers kit, the Tonks daughter 'Dora (Don't you DARE call me Nymphadora) got her a training broom, and the elder Tonk's gave her a pair of history books; the books practically had her salivating, knowledge was power and power kept you safe.

After an off key rendition of 'Happy Birthday' Lilly got her first taste of cake, (chocolate!) and after playing with 'Dora most of the afternoon she decided this might be her best day ever. It was a real toss up between this lovely family moment and burning the Dursley's to death, her thoughts on this made Tom laugh, a lot. After a day of sweets, games of broom tag, and being dotted on by people who actually cared about her Lillith fell into a deep sleep burrowed into her down comforter, she'd plan on world domination tomorrow, today she was just happy to be a seven year old little girl who felt loved for the first time ever.

The next day found her and her dad apparating to a rather largish home in southern Ireland, apparently one of Mrs. Lupin's many side jobs was terrorizing the local banshees for the constabulary and the location worked out for both her and her husband. As they approached the front door Snape opened it without knocking and escorted his daughter inside, they were hit with a miasma of odors, the faint smell of dog, baked goods, and raw potions being the most prevalent, after a moment of silence they heard a man yelling from the basement.

"Bella love, have you seen the guinea pigs? I need to test this new batch of potions for the dueling association," after a moment another voice yelled back in a melodic sing song voice,

"Dear you know it's against etiquette to use pots in a duel," there was a pause and the man replied sounding slightly agitated,

"Honey what did you do with the guinea pigs?" the woman yelled back happily,

"I was bored on the last full moon so I released them in your cage to see if they could evade you!" The man who Lillith could only assume was Remus sighed before replying,

"Are there any left alive?" Bella cackled a bit then said,

"Oh just one, I named him Julian but you can't use him for experiments he's now the king of all Guinea pigs, happens when you survive a werewolf," there was the sound of feet beating up a flight of stairs and they could more clearly hear him as he calmly responded,

"Right...well looks like I"m going to the pet store, probably have to go to Belfast to avoid suspicion...that or I could obliviate the locals...hmmm..." Lilly was doing her best to keep her giggling in check as she met her dads eyes, the look he gave her was that of someone suffering constant torment. So when the foyer door was opened by a well dressed gentleman he stopped in surprise seeing a little girl giggling into her hands and Severus Snape staring down at her with a long suffering look on his face, "Li-Lilly!" The girl stopped laughing and looked up at him, she walked forward and curtsied,

"Hello Mr. Lupin, I am the Lady Lillith Potter, I'm pleased to meet you!" Remus Lupin froze as he looked down at the smiling child, a perfect mixture of Lily and James, he couldn't help himself he scooped her into a hug and began swinging her around causing her to squeal in delight.

"I'm so so so sorry Lilly! I tried to find you but that old bastard kept rambling on about how having a wife from a dark family and being a werewolf meant you weren't safe around me. I'm so sorry, so so sorry!" Lilly threw her arms around his neck (tactfully ignoring Tom's grumbling about public displays of affection) and whispered,

"It's all right Moony, I'm safe now and that's all that matters," releasing her hug Remus held her at arms length a moment meeting her eyes, he then laughed and pulled her into his embrace once more before placing her on the ground.

"Child you have no idea how much I've missed you," with that he turned to Severus and offered a slight bow,

"I'm glad to see you are in good health Potions Master, how have you been?" Snape thankfully had decided tact was in order since he wanted his daughter to at least attempt to avoid his own biases,

"Lupin, I've been doing well all things considered, I'd much prefer not wasting my time teaching but there is little one can do about such things," Lilly chirped in with,

"He has to deal with dunderheaded imbeciles all day long, but he tries to not let it get him down!" Snape threw her a betrayed look that she ignored as Lupin laughed again,

"Sounds about right, anyway a belated happy birthday is in order for you young lady, and I do have a gift for you but it can wait till after you meet Bella, shall we?" She nodded still smiling and took his hand in hers while her dad took her other and guided her down the halls, "This manor was actually owned by a self proclaimed Dark Lord about two hundred years ago, his ghost was haunting it since his death so we got a rather good deal on it." Severus spoke up at that,

"What happened to him? The ghost that is, I'm sure you remember the rather...prolific amount of spectres that inhabit Hogwarts, I'm aware of how difficult they are to get rid of." Remus snorted at that as they approached another door,

"Bella stalked it day and night taunting it with his own failed history and French pop songs, he moved on about a week later," Lilly and Tom were both impressed by this and couldn't wait to meet the woman who could drive the dead around the bend, Snape just rolled his eyes while muttering "Of course." As they were being led through the halls Tom spoke up,

_"Child I'm quite surprised you allowed that man to touch you after what you went through."_ She could hear the question in his tone so she replied with,

_"I can feel his magic its...I think I remember him, there's just something in my heart telling me I can trust him," _Tom snorted at that,

_"Trust a werewolf...all right then, but if you end up catching lyconthropy from him I don't want to hear any whinging," _she had to hold back a snort at that one,

"_Yes Tom because it's spread like the common cold," _She could sense his amusement as he cut back with,

"_You're lucky you're going to end up very cute or I wouldn't put up with the cheek," _before she could respond the group ended up in a large room filled with all sorts of magical artefakts, animal tanks, and large tomes, sitting at the massive table in the center was a woman surrounded by stacks of parchment. The floor around the wavy haired ravenette was covered in crumpled parchments and broken quills, she was giggling to herself as she was scratching complex formula's out as she spun a muggle king chess piece in her off hand. All told she seemed a bit batty, and for some reason that really intrigued Lillith so she was the first to speak up,

"Hello ma'am," the woman stopped writing and spun around, Lilly was shocked to see how much the woman resembled Aunt Andi, a mad grin spread across her face as she hopped off her stool and approached the group,

"Remus you didn't tell me we had guests, bad wolf no biscuits for you! Hello dear I'm' Bellatrix but you may call me Bella," Remus much to Lilly's amusement actually let out a quiet whine,

"I'm the one who baked them dear!" She ignored him and leaned down to stare directly into Lillith's emerald eyes, her lilac gaze seemed to spark with manic power just beneath the surface,

"You must be Lillith...hehe...I can see a bit of the Black madness in you little one, we're going to have ever so much fun!" With that she abruptly broke the gaze and scooped the small girl up and placed her on the table next to her stool, taking her seat Bella began pointing things out on the parchments, "I'm currently playing with some arithmatic equations to create an improved explosion curse, _bombarda_ is nice but I'd really like to cause as much collateral damage as possible." Lilly eyed the grinning woman cautiously, glanced down at her work she then picked up a quill, she quickly corrected the only glaring error she and Tom could find and placed the quill back down, Bella eyed her in shock and the two men crowded beside her to see what the seven year old had done. Lillith shrugged and spoke for the first time,

"I like math, and explosions, did I do well?" The adults exchanged looks then Bella broke out into a cackle that had Tom nodding in approval and grumbling about how he wished her idiot family hadn't disowned her when he was the Dark Lord, oh well Lilly could use her at least.

"Remus can we keep her please? And where are those biscuits the child is nothing but skin and bones! Now dear what do you think about this curse, I've got this ongoing theory that the more evil a wizard is the more inherently flammable they are, so-" Remus and Severus exchanged glances and walked into the kitchen leaving Bellatrix to ramble at the wide eyed grinning girl. As Remus began preparing a pot of tea Severus finally spoke up,

"Do you ever get the feeling that perhaps you've done something irrevocably stupid and there is no way to undo the damage?" Both men turned to the door as they heard mirrored cackling from Bella's lab, they sighed as one and Remus let out a small chuckle,

"Yes, but on the plus side at least we're here to give them adult supervision...Severus I wanted to thank you, thank you for taking her in, for doing what _I_ should have been doing this entire time, I don't think I can ever repay you for it." The professor made a concentrated effort to keep back his intended sneer, instead he turned around and began taking teacups down from the cabinet and placing them on a tray that the werewolf handed him,

"Lupin, we've had a rocky relationship since we graduated, and since you've hooked up with Bella I've had to learn to put the past behind me for Narcissa's sake, Merlin knows Lucius would get an earful if I started anything with you at get togethers. That being said, you failed her horribly, and in the same breath you didn't, yes you should have been there for her, but it was Dumbledore and the ministries laws that kept you away so...don't blame yourself." That had taken a lot for the professor to admit, he turned to meet Lupin's golden eyes and the scarred young man nodded in understanding and said no more on the subject, taking the baking sheet of ginger newts in hand he grabbed a plate and transferred them. Tea and biscuits now in order the pair re-entered the now eerily silent lab, cracking the door open they saw a wide eyed Bella staring at the far corner of the room were the witch stored most of the animals used for potions ingredients.

The smirk that kept trying to curl up her face took as she pointed to the little girl holding of all bloody things an emberscale, one of the most dangerous and venomous magical snakes in the world, their ability to breath fire like their distant dragon cousins made them a hassle to take care of unfortunately their venom had hundreds of uses. This all ran through Snape's head as he realized his daughter was hissing to the snake and it was responding, eventually she _and_ the emberscale turned to face the adults,

"You have such a lovely pet Aunt Bella, she really likes you but wanted to know if you could give her live food now and then, it's apparently more satisfying fighting for her meal." She looked back and forth between the gobsmacked adults and let her eyebrows raise in confusion, "What?" Bellatrix, apparently due to operating somewhere on the same wavelength as the girl recovered first,

"That's lovely dear I'll have to get her some mice then, could you put her back in her tank for the time being, as much as I like burning things I rather like my house," smiling Lilly nodded and placed the snake down and began stroking its head, after a few moments the reptile curled in on itself and went to sleep. Skipping back to the trio of adults she snatched up one of the ginger newts and clamored back onto Bella's table. Lupin and Snape both shared a terrified look before composing themselves, Tom was laughing a bit sadistically,

_"Girl you are going to be trouble,"_ inwardly grinning she nodded a bit,

"_I am the Lady of Slytherin after all, they shouldn't be too surprised, I wonder if I can convince them to get me a snake familiar," _Tom waved the comment off,

_"We have a twenty meter long basilisk under Hogwarts do recall," _She rolled her eyes at that,

_"I'd like a familiar that I can carry around with me and won't you know...kill everyone that looks at it,"_ Tom paused for a moment then asked,

_"What's the fun in that?" _Before she could respond the adults gathered around her and did their best to ignore what they just saw, well the men did, Bella thought it was great, after a time Remus left and soon returned with a wrapped package.

"Happy Birthday Lillith, I've been holding onto these for years in hopes I could give them to you some day," she gently tore the paper off the largish wood box, the words 'Lily Evans' were engraved in calligraphy on the lid, gasping she flicked the clasps and opened it. Inside was a worn looking leather bound book, several pictures and pieces of jewlary, and-

"Lily's wand!" Severus stated wide eyed, Lillith stared at it in awe as Remus nodded looking a bit pleased with himself,

"They tried to confiscate it as a "national treasure" if you can believe that, so I transfigured a stick into a look alike and knicked the real thing, pick it up dear, see if it likes you," she glanced up at her dad who looked mildly amused that the former prefect had done something so audacious and nodded to her. Picking up the wand she flicked her wrist and golden sparks went flying about the room, Severus and Remus both smiled and Bella cackled while clapping her hands, staring at the thin piece of wood with a dreamy smile Lilly thought out,

_"And now we have an unregistered wand Tom, whatever shall we do next?" _Laughter was his only response, she thanked the Lupin's profusely and began to riffle through the other odds and ends, the book was blood sealed so Lilly shrugged and pricked her thumb on the recessed spike, opening it she realized that it was her mothers diary. No, journal, this wasn't filled with superfluous ramblings of an adolescent girl, these were the musings and ideas of a genius bordering on madness, she vaguely wondered if her mum would have gotten along with Bella.

Tuning out the adults she skimmed through last entries and stopped when she found something unfamiliar, Tom had kept his word and the majority of his knowledge was held from her for the time being so she'd have to rely on her caretakers,

"Dad, Aunt Bella, Uncle Moony, what's the Fidelus Charm?" The three froze and looked at the girl with sadness and a bit of underlying anger, Moony responded for the group,

"The Fidelus Charm is a very powerful protection spell, when placed on a persons home no one can find it unless the secret keeper tells someone about it." She nodded a bit then scrunched her nose in disgust,

"So since my parents are dead, our secret keeper betrayed us?" Moony nodded sadly,

"Yes dear, they were betrayed by a good friend, someone they didn't think would ever turn on them, on you." She sighed closing the journal,

"I see...so what happened to Peter Pettigrew, did he get arrested?" The adults froze and looked at her in confusion, Bellatrix quirked an eyebrow and asked,

"What for dear?" Now honestly confused and getting no help from Tom she pointed down at the journal,

"For betraying my parents, mum wrote that Peter Pettigrew was my parents secret keeper and the binding ceremony was performed by Albus Dumbledore," Dead silence was all that met her, she huffed a bit at their wide eyed gaping, bloody adults...

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**Did I ever mention how much I love writing Bellatrix? She's a little less insane then the one from 'Another Day in the Life of' but I thought I gave a fairly good explanation as to how she went nuts and how she hooked up with Moony. Oh and Narcissa keeps in contact with Bellatrix since she and Lucius both find it ridiculous that she had been kicked from the Black family for something she didn't have any control over, this eventually lead to a reconciliation with Andromeda and the wizarding world shook with horror at the reunification of the Black sisters.**

**Also I'm not going to touch off on it until much later but Remus has been kinda...corrupted? Yeah we'll go with mildly corrupted living with Bellatrix so things that would set off canon Moony don't really phase him that much (I.E. the use of Dark Arts outside of the unforgivables) and since he's a respected member of society thanks to the Potter's his furry little problem is rarely brought up.**

**Anyway, rambling, hope you enjoyed and please REVIEW!**


	4. A Sirius Matter

_**So this chapter introduces one of my all time favorite characters to write, now Sirius is not quite like he was in canon, he'd only been in Azkaban five years and while it took its toll he's still far more of a wily smartarse since he has more of grip on reality, also making him aware of his Lordship for expediencies sake. Now, that being said if this doesn't seem to work for you folks let me know, I think there will be one more chapter before Hogwarts to do some world building.**_

_**QUESTION-Do you guys want the Diagon Alley treatment or not? Personally I'm more inclined to just have her get Hedwig and her wand and gloss over the rest of it since I intend for her to meet Hermione in the bookstore, which will give you my lovely readers my take on the Purebloods and why they're so against muggle-borns. My hope is to turn Hermione into the poster child of adapting to the culture you're entering and influencing needed changes down the line not completely subverting it like Dumbles wants. Anywho, hope you all enjoy, as always REVIEW!**_

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**A Sirius Matter**

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Since the day he'd been rather brusquely tossed into the Wizard Prison of Azkaban Sirius Black had barely kept his once sharp, and admittedly somewhat warped mind from collapsing in on itself while under the near constant supervision of the foul creatures known as Dementors. A handful of things kept him sane'ish, first the knowledge that he was in fact innocent, that he needed to somehow escape and protect his goddaughter Lillith, that the real traitor was still out there as a threat to said goddaughter, and that he hadn't introduced Barty Crouch to some rather well deserved Black justice yet.

One thing he could actively do though while he rotted away biding his time was torture his cell mates, as the saying goes you can take the Auror out of the corps but you can't take the corps out of the Auror, so as the Dementors finished their rounds for the day he shifted from his Grim form and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, gentlemen! Tonight's classical rendition is brought to you by my dearly deceased friend Lily Potter nee Evans, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when she taught it to me! Ohhhhhhhh ten thousand bottles of butterbeer on the wall, ten thousand bottles of butterbeer! Take one down and pass it around, nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine bottles of butterbeer on the wall!" He kept this up for a few hours, eventually around the seven thousandth butterbeer the man in the cell across from him screamed,

"OH MERLIN I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" And with that he charged headfirst into his cell wall, there was a sick thump as his skull was dashed upon the masonry then his body fell to the ground twitching, letting out several barks of laughter Sirius picked up his rusty shiv and scratched a new tally mark into the granite cell wall. Sometimes, it was the little things in life that kept you going, it certainly wasn't the food that's for sure,

"Could do with a bit of room service, eh Prongs?" The gaunt faced young man asked the ether as he sprawled out on his filthy sleeping mat, five years, five years he'd moldered in this hell on Earth for a crime he didn't commit. Well, misnomer there, he committed the greatest crime ever, he chose his lust for vengeance over the well being of his goddaughter, only the Morrigan knows where she was now. Thankfully self loathing was an amazing insulator against the Dementors just as his torturing the local Death Eaters was, with that cheery thought the new rounds began as the air around him darkened.

With the familiar feeling of frozen horror returning in the wake of the devils rejects Sirius prepared to shift back to Padfoot when suddenly the encroaching darkness paused, then retreated from whence it came. Intrigued the Marauder sat up from his rotting mat of straw listening silently, eventually he heard the click clack of heeled boots approaching, he recognized the gait but couldn't for the life of him match it to a person. Less then a minute later he felt his shaggy brows raise in confusion and a bit of mild amusement as he viewed the three women and their auror escort.

"Andi, Bella! How're my favorite cousins doing!? Oh and hello to you Minister Bagnold, incarcerate anyone without a trial recently? Perhaps a teashop owner, or a street sweeper? Certainly not a _Lord_, that'd be so...unprofessional wouldn't it?" Sirius gave the three women his most cavalier grin with that, the grey of his eyes taking on a malicious sheen of silver as he spat out his pleasantries. Andi for her part gave him a wane smile and Bella giggled, the Minister's gray consonance somehow became more stern then earlier, good on her he thought cheerfully,

"Black, you're up for review, new...evidence has come to light and it is my desire to get this cleared as soon as possible, you are to be escorted to the ministry immediately and once you are seen fit to stand trial you will be brought in front of a small tribunal." The Black of Blacks snorted at this as he rolled his tired eyes,

"And why would I agree to a small council with limited witnesses?" Bella snickered a bit as she leaned in completely oblivious to the stench wafting from her cousin as she whispered,

"So you are cleared and freed while Dumbledore is in summer recess, we have Lillith, all you have to do is play along and you can see your goddaughter." Letting out a bit of a canine whine Sirius stood up and brushed off his filthy prison rags,

"Well, ladies shall we?" And with that he was escorted out of Azkaban, he grinned at the morose Death Eaters through the bars of their cells as he walked past them head held high, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he whispered as his grin turned into a vengeful sneer. The small group reached the ferry to the mainland and Bellatrix, Morgana bless the crazy bint flicked a coin to the ferry man as they reached the opposite shore with a,

"Keep the change Charon, he won't be back," a shower, a meal, and a nap later he found himself in front of a small group of officials, foremost was the Minister of Magic and the new head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones of all people (he couldn't help himself when he winked at the redhead causing her to blush) and a somber looking Unspeakable that he had no desire to annoy. The man in question approached Sirius and dosed him with truth serum and so began the trial,

"Name,"

"Sirius Orian Black,"

"Were you the Potter's secret keeper,"

"No, James and I decided I was too obvious so we chose Peter Pettigrew, Lily wasn't amused, she never trusted him...smart girl."

"Who was your oath binder,?"

"Albus too many fucking names for his own good Dumbledore,"

"If proven innocent what will you do?"

"Make a life for my goddaughter that her parents wanted, and destroy all those that kept her from those that loved her." The unspeakable smirked and after applying the serum counter he nodded towards Bagnold who cleared her throat before speaking,

"Sirius Orian Black, Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black you are here cleared of all charges and are now a free man, you are free to press charges against the ministry as is your right as one of The Thirteen, what are your wishes?" The Grim animagus lifted his head his silver eyes glowing brightly,

"I simply wish to see my goddaughter, and for the traitor Pettigrew to burn," smirking the old woman nodded,

"So it is said, so mote it shall be." With that he was carted off to Saint Mungo's were he was put under a strict regime of potions that made him feel a bit like an over watered house plant, although he was willing to put up with it for the good food and clean sheets. And no Dementors, the no Dementors thing was rather lovely as well, so as he was downing another bowl of Jell-o (never let it be said that _all_ magicals were oblivious to the mundane world) on his third week of bed rest a small silhouette darkened his doorway.

Looking up he felt his heart seize when he saw the vibrant twin emeralds shining through a cascade of midnight black hair, the tiny angels face had a look of bemused contemplation on it as she observed the mans eating habits. She smiled in a way that made him know his life was going to be a living hell when she hit puberty, _'I'm going to have to buy more property to hide all the would be suitors bodies,'_ he thought with a sense of detachment. Being locked up for half a decade he hadn't had a chance to rebuild his occulamancy barriers so it was no surprise that the man standing behind the girl picked his thoughts up passively, so it was with a bit of shock that Severus Snape snorted in amusement as he met Black's startled eyes.

"Indeed, I've been finding myself thinking the same thing as of late, hello Lord Black, it's been some time," now an unprepared Sirius may have blown up, sneered out _Snivellus_ or otherwise acted a prat. Luckily for all involved his cousins and Moony had cornered him and made him aware of the current situation, so his response was something even he never thought would come about.

"That it has Potions Master, I must thank you for taking care of Lillith since I was rather incapable of doing so myself, I owe you one," to say that Severus was surprised would probably be an understatement, but the genuine civility seemed to make little Lillith's smile glow even more happily then before. Approaching the bed she looked up at the still somewhat scruffy young man and took the hand that wasn't cradling the bowl of Jell-o.

"Hello Godfather...or is it Dogfather?" Smiling a bit painfully he scooped the girl up and gave her a firm hug before placing her beside himself, handing her the bowl of gelatin she readily accepted it muttering ,"Mmm, blue, blue's my favorite." Chuckling he nodded a bit,

"Yeah mine too kiddo, ends up when you flirt with all the nurses you can milk them for what you want," being very ladylike she talked around the mouthful of Jell-O staining her mouth unknowingly looking adorable as she did so.

"What about the male nurses?" He rolled his eyes at that,

"Of course you'd ask that...Lily would too...and as for them well, they tend to avoid me, apparently women see a hurt dashing young man who needs nurtured back to health, the men see an unhinged psychopath." He shrugged a bit as he noticed Snape physically wince as he repressed a sneer before he replied,

"Well you're a Black so it is likely somewhere in the middle," Sirius just nodded in agreement as he stared at Lillith with haunted eyes, eventually he shook himself out of his reverie than turned back to his former nemesis.

"So how are we doing this?" Snape grabbed a chair and pulled it to the bedside then sat on it backwards resting his arms on its back,

"The plan is relatively simple but not so much that it's transparent, the newspapers are going to reveal your trial and innocence once you are healthy enough to make a public appearance where you will go into details about what happened that night. With your revelation about Pettigrew we're hoping a concerned citizen will apprehend him quickly, if anyone asks about-" he rolled his eyes with the next part, to Sirius amusement so did Lillith, "-'The Girl Who Lived' you'll say that after years in Azkaban the ministry has seen it fit to keep you under observation for the time being before giving you the clearance to see her."

Sirius frowned at this but it melted when he felt a tiny hand wrap itself around a few of his fingers and give them a squeeze, he huffed then nodded for Snape to continue, "Of course this is a lie, you'll be staying with Andromeda Tonks or the Wolf and the Nutter as will Lillith. The old goat for all his meticulous planning has finally bought into his own hype and thinks he can do no wrong, so he hasn't bothered checking up on her since she was dropped on the Dursley's doorstep." At the mention of her hated relatives Lillith's back went ramrod strait and the plastic fork in her grip snapped, Severus looked at her in concern and ran his hand through her hair a few times to calm her down, she didn't meet his eyes as she stared at the floor but she seemed to relax.

Sirius met Snape's dark gaze and mouthed 'That bad?' and the Potions Master shook his head and replied 'Worse,' grimacing the dog animagus motioned for him to continue if for no other reason than to distract the girl, "So with that all being said you obviously can't take custody of her without Dumbledore knowing she's out from under his thumb, we're actually taking bets on how far into her schooling it will take before he notices." At that Lillith finally perked up,

"Aunt Andi has five galleons on second year, Uncle Moony has twenty on first, Aunt Bella and Uncle Ted have twenty on third year, they don't have much faith in him," Sirius smirked at this,

"And you little one?" She grinned a bit displaying her beautifully blue stained teeth,

"Daddy and I have thirty on fourth year, we've already planned a campaign of misdirection, it should be fun!" Sirius winced at Snape's moniker but didn't comment on it,

"Well throw me down for the same, I have faith in James and Lily's daughter to befuddle an old man, so Lillith tell me about yourself, I've missed so much and I want to know everything I can," She smiled a bit shyly then nodded,

"Ok for starters please call me Lilly, now my favorite colors are green and violet, I hate pumpkin juice, flying is amazing, and-" this went on for a good twenty minutes and Sirius ate it up, if he were ever capable of casting a Patronus again the memory of his first meeting with his goddaughter would be more then enough to fuel it. Eventually Lilly was escorted off for her own checkup and the group exchanged goodbyes, Sirius spent the next two weeks in rehab and once cleared he'd ordered a tailor to come in and measure him for new robes, if he was going to have to embrace his Lordship he'd best look the part. So it was mid July when he finally made his first public appearance before a crowd of reporters, to say that his story came as a shock was an understatement, every magical paper the nation over stopped the presses in an effort to be the first to report on the unprecedented event.

As fate would have it a small somewhat popular but oftentimes ridiculed paper from Ottery St Catchpool hadn't been planning to publish that day due to the owners wife coming down with a severe case of wrackspurts, but with such a story she agreed that it would be best to put the disinfection off until tomorrow. So it was with this that found one William Weasley filling out mastery apprenticeship applications early in the morning, he was looking to get into the curse breaker business since he had a ridiculous affinity for runes and warding so he should have a few bites soon. After filling out the one for Gringott's he sent the owl off and stretched languidly, he loved the quiet, and while the Burrow would always be home he could not wait to get the hell out of there and find a flat of his own, sipping his lukewarm coffee he was startled to see the Lovegood's owl swoop into the room and drop a magazine before him.

The Quibbler was one of Bill's favorites, everyone thought the lot of Lovegood's were barmy but the careful observer realized most (not all but most) of the far out articles were actually political commentary wrapped up in a form that couldn't get them shut down by the ministry. So with a wry grin he picked it up and read the headline, nearly choking on his coffee as he did so, he read the series of articles one after the other, no where once was there mention of imaginary animals or the Rotfang Conspiracy. As the young man finished the paper his mother and siblings came downstairs, he was so intent on his own thoughts that he managed to completely tune out Molly's caterwauling, a feat that would earn him a medal in any other situation.

As Percy entered the room Bill jumped to his feet and whipped out his wand,

"STUPIFY!" He roared as the red stunner slammed into the rat riding on his shoulder sending it flying into the back wall, now if any other Weasley had done this there would have been complete pandemonium, but this was Bill, the calm, collected, easy going eldest brother who did his best to set an example for his siblings. So it was wide-eyed silence that met him as he prowled to the comatose rat and ran a few diagnostic spells on him, grunting in anger he transfigured a cage out of a breadbasket and cast an unbreakable charm on it before tossing the rodent inside.

He turned to his mother and smiled, "Sorry Mum, going to miss breakfast I need to get to the Ministry as soon as possible, may I use the Floo?" Molly nodded slowly a look of concern on her face, he just grinned and pointed to the discarded paper, "Might wanna read up, everything's about to change," and with that Bill Weasley walked out of the Burrow securing his families future for generations. Not a week later the news was out that the traitor, former recipient of the Order of Merlin First Class Peter Pettigrew had been apprehended by a teenager and was tried, convicted, and shipped off to Azkaban all in the same day.

Sirius for his part was giddy, he'd made no mention of Dumbledore at any point during his interviews and after his public statement of keeping away from his goddaughter for the time being the old man had made no effort to contact him, as far as the meddling headmaster was concerned all was well in the world. So when William and Arthur Weasley came to visit the Lupin Manor they were a bit nonplussed to be greeted by none other then Lillith Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived curtsied nervously unsure of these new arrivals, thankfully as always she had Tom to keep her safe,

_"Don't fret child the Weasley's were staunch supporters of the Light in the last war, they'll mean you no harm and they are guests of your godfather remember, just take it easy and look at their eyes, what do you see?" _Making eye contact with both men she let Tom touch their surface thoughts, there was surprise, concern, and an underlying kindness in the both of them, although the younger had a bit of mischievousness mixed with that, it was like an undercurrent of mirth playing on a sweet spring wind. Relaxing immediately she smiled to the pair while thinking,

_"Thanks Tom, what would I do without you?" _He snorted a bit,

_"Very little, but no worries I'm not going anywhere anytime soon,"_ still smiling happily she skipped ahead of the men bringing them into Aunt Bella's lab where all the adults were gathered, both Daddy and Uncle Padfoot gave her looks when they realized the Weasley's saw her present but she didn't mind, for some reason she trusted them. She continued to skip to Aunt Bella and hopped on her lap as the meeting began.

"Well," Sirius began, "I just wanted to formally thank you for capturing the rat, literally in this case, and offer you a reward," both men went a bit rigid at that but the younger spoke first,

"While I appreciate that Lord Black I didn't turn the tosser in for a reward, he'd used my family for years, slept in my little brothers bed-" at this everyone shuddered in revulsion, "-and was responsible for the deaths of dozens while letting his innocent friend rot in Azkaban, I only did what was right." Sirius grinned widely at this noticing the look of pride on Arthur's face,

"Be that as it may you have put the House of Black in your debt, and in doing so I owe your family by extension, since you do not want a monetary reward I instead will pay for your mastery training as well as the educations of all your siblings and the subsequent generation of Weasley's, and yes I'm aware of how many of you there are," he finished with a laugh. The two redheads stared at him in open mouthed wonder as he continued, "I've also contacted Gringott's and with Arthur's permission I'll be having them install top the line Wards around the Burrow, I'm sure this little event has made you at least a minor target for the Death Munchers so better to be safe then sorry, now Arthur we need to talk." The as of up till now silent balding man nodded slowly,

"What can I do for you Lord Black," Sirius face fell as he waved his hands frantically,

"No no no none of that Lord stuff, I let the kid slide but you're older then me for Morgana's sake, just call me Sirius, now I know you like your current position in the ministry but were you aware that you have a black mark on your file preventing you from getting any promotions or raises?" The older man looked stunned,

"N-no Lo...I mean Sirius, I did not, whatever for?" The wiry Lord hopped out of his seat as he began pacing,

"Former department head didn't like you, don't worry I already had her sacked for tampering with ministry files, you weren't the only one who she'd tried to ruin, anyway what it comes down to is that Barty Crouch just vacated his position as the head of the Department of International Cooperation and you're more than qualified to take the position. Believe it or not I got Lucius Malfoy of all people to agree to back me up (No need to mention it was due to Sirius asking Cissy to needle him a bit) so if you want the promotion and raise it's yours, and before you think this is a handout I intend to be very involved with the Ministry so I have no intention of sticking someone in a position that could make my life more difficult." Father and son conferred for a few minutes before they both nodded,

"I gladly accept the offer Sirius and wish to convey my thanks for the offer of paying for my children's schooling, I love my family but I will admit sometimes things get stretched a bit thin," Sirius was still smiling as he shook their hands,

"Excellent, excellent! Now, before you leave we need to discuss something here, my compatriots wayward ward-" he glanced to first Severus then Lillith, "-has apparently taken it upon herself to make you aware that she's here, I need you to give an oath that you will not let anyone know outside of this room up until the point it becomes known to the general public, especially Dumbledore." They both hesitated but Bella being Bella just gave them the whole sordid story sans what Vernon had done to Lillith, ten minutes later both men gave their vows willingly and left to tell their family the good news. As the adults all began chattering and Bella braided her hair she thought to Tom,

"_And now we have a Light family under our influence, what shall we acquire next?"_ Tom made a 'hmm' noise before replying,

_"You should get a pet Malfoy, they're great to have around, preening peacocks the lot of them but they're loaded and easy to manipulate as long as you know how to stroke their ego's, old Abraxos was a bit of pain to deal with but Lucius was always more malleable, I hear he has a son your age entering Hogwarts the same year you are."_ Now humming to herself as Bella explained how they were going to see if the viscosity of marmalade would make it a viable alternative to blood while summoning demons she gave a mental smirk to Tom,

_"Hmm, sounds like a plan, I've always wanted a pet, what if he becomes too attached?,"_ Tom sounding oddly possessive simply stated,

_"Nothing says 'Dark Lady' like the liberal usage of the cruciatus,"_ snorting Lillith rolled her eyes at that, Tom was great but sometimes unimaginative, she'd find a way to control her pet Malfoy in such a manner that he'd never even know it happened. Several hundred kilometers away a young blonde boy shivered as he stood in the July sun, eventually he shrugged off the odd event and went back to playing with his toy broom.

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**I love how everyone marches to Lillith's drum and they're none the wiser, it's so much fun to write, hope you liked it and as always REVIEW!**


	5. Quality time with Aunt Bella

_**This chapter just kept writing itself, thoroughly enjoyed it, anyway I tried to cram as much as I could in this one since I really wanna get to the sorting. Anyway, enjoy and REVIEW**_

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**Lupin Manor Late September 1990**

Lillith padded lightly on her tip toes remaining as silent as a cat as she prowled along the darkened hallway, her vibrant eyes ever alert as she took in her surroundings. Making sure to avoid the boards that she knew creaked and staying to the deeper shadows she did her best to control her breathing as not to give away her position. One of Aunt Bella's primary lessons was how to stalk your prey without giving yourself away and not relying on magic to do it, the concept was foreign to Tom but Lilly understood it intimately from her time before with...best not think about them, dead and burned.

Unfortunately she wasn't stalking anything right now, rather she was the prey without the benefit of a wand, honestly this annoyed her immensely, she had also forgotten the knife Aunt Cissy had given her for her birthday a little less then two months ago. She really loved the elegant dagger, it was the one her Aunt herself had used at Hogwarts as a youngster and had been in the Black family for generations, it was charmed to stay ever sharp and had an ancient enchant to cause irrational fear in anyone cut by it.

Her Aunt was getting quite excited for in one more year Lilly could "come out of the closet" as they say and meet Cissy's boy Draco finally, the need to hide Lillith's existence from the boy removed with the advent of school. Dumbledore could bore into the Malfoy heirs mind all he wanted, the child's first meeting with her would be in Diagon alley, her Daddy and Aunt's and Uncles were so clever. Honestly Uncle Sirius wasn't fooling anyone with being a Gryffindor the man was just as Slytherin as the Black sisters and Daddy, although he'd never admit it.

She was knocked from her thoughts as the door in the dim room she'd found herself in slammed open and the figure standing in silhouette fired a spell at her, yelping she bolted for the opposing door at full speed. Ducking around the corner as the red beam of a cast spell flew through the space she had previously occupied she began running, pumping her legs the little ten year old peeled around another corner and dove beside a book case to catch her breath.

As her pursuer entered the room she rolled out from the bookcase and cast a wandless _lumos_ hopping to blind the attacker, regaining her footing she bolted for the next room and cringed in pain but shrugged it off as she caught the outer edge of the returning _cruciatus_ curse. Rolling beneath a table she sidled up the wooden legs and pressed her body firmly beneath the table top silently hoping the table cloth would hide her.

Her pursuer entered the room, dainty steps undone with clunky boots, they lifted the cloth covering her table but not all the way, her assailant left the room huffing and Lilly let out a slow breath. Carefully letting herself down she poked her head from underneath the blue tablecloth and seeing the coast was clear she bolted for the stairs leading to the second floor, as as she was about to take the first step the bellowed,

"CRUCIO!" sent her to her knees, the forward momentum sending her into a roll slamming into the unyielding wood steps , there was a clucking noise behind her and she tried to shrug off the pain curse before the woman took a knee next to her. "And what did we learn today Lilly?" Sighing the ravenette met her favorite aunts lilac gaze and huffed out,

"Be aware of my surroundings," nodding cheerfully Bellatrix reached into her hip bag and handed Lilly a vial, downing it quickly she immediately felt the pains twitching through her nervous system lesson, sighing in relief she collapsed against her aunt panting. Bellatrix shook her head sighing lightly,

"Dear your resistance to the imperius and cruciatus is something to behold be please don't push yourself like this, if I'd known you were going to be this bad off I'd not have agreed to this weeks training." Shuddering and trying to force the curses after effects off Lilly sat up and stared at the far wall,

"If I don't train I'll be eaten alive in the snake pit, and you're the only one whose willing to see that as truth Aunt Bella," the woman in question sighed and pulled Lilly into her lap and began stroking her hair. Lilly loved when Aunt Bella did this, it was almost like having a mom, leaning into her Aunt's embrace they sat there for a bit before the elder witch rasped out,

"Honey, I can't do much more for you, the cruciatus is powered by hate, and I _can't_ hate you angel, and I'm afraid of the damage I might unintentionally cause you if I really push it, I'm sorry I really am but this lesson may be at its end." Lilly paused a moment then tried to burrow deeper into Bella's embrace before responding,

"Can...can you teach me to focus my hatred...so...so I can hurt people that want to hurt me?" Bella stilled than resumed rocking the girl back and forth,

"Where would you find such hate little one? You're a conniving little snake as you well should be but you're a gentle soul, you're going to be capable of many things but pure hatred?" Not even pretending to hesitate Lilly spat out,

"The _Dursley's_," Bella was quiet for a few minutes then she nodded,

"Ok, we'll go idiot baiting, if we catch a fool and he...passes inspection I'll let you practice on him," smiling up at her mentor Lilly pecked her on the cheek before snuggling back into the hug,

"Thanks Aunt Bella...I love you," smiling down at her protege Bella continued stroking her hair as she whispered,

"Love you too my little viper, love you too."

It was early October when Bellatrix took Lillith out to Diagon Alley, she'd put the little raventette's hair into two braids and charmed it strawberry blonde, she also applied some makeup to her faint scar as to avoid identification and given her a pair of false glasses. Eyeing them suspiciously she met her Aunt's amused gaze,

"You needed corrective eye treatment when you were younger, your dad was feeding you the appropriate potions since the day he found out to alter your vision and those were what we bought in case the potions didn't take. At least they're stylish, imagine if you were wearing a pair like your father had." Bella laughed as her nieces nose scrunched up cutely in obvious distaste,

"Ok I guess," still frowning she slid the offending glasses on and turned to her Aunt asking, "How do I look?" Smiling down at the petite bundle of adorableness before her Bella brought out her wand and cast a charm giving her some freckles, nodding in approval she giggled a bit.

"You look wonderful, now put on that yellow robe, yes that one and those cute white shoes, excellent! Now you know the plan?" Nodding enthusiastically she reached for Bella's hand and followed her to the Floo, Bella took a pinch of powder, stated "The Leaky Cauldron," and stepped through flames. Lilly was immediately glad Uncle Padfoot had given her training on how to appropriately Floo travel, apparently her father and mother both were helpless when it came to the things and they'd always go flying. Glancing up to Bella who was also now glamoured as a somewhat doughy looking older witch they both shook off the ash and made their way to the Alley proper.

As they passed the ice cream shop she noticed a girl sitting alone with stacks of books surrounding her, she had bushy hair and keen eyes that were carefully flitting over the tome in her small hands. What made her stand out was the fact that she was wearing muggle clothes (suggesting she was muggle born) and the books she had held details on the Wizengamot, Pure-Blood traditions, wizarding religious beliefs and many more. Both she and Tom 'hmm'd a bit at that, filing it away for after the field trip Lilly followed Bella to Knockturn Alley, Bella cast a few tracking charms on her and handed her a small ring.

"Now I'm going to disillusion myself and keep pace behind you, if you get separated and panic that ring will portkey you back to Lupin Manor, are you sure you're up for this little one?" Emerald met lilac as Lilly nodded with a completely serious expression settling on her face,

"It needs to be done," nodding sadly Bella gave her a quick peck on the forehead and with a wave of her wand the older witch disappeared, taking a deep breath Lilly slid the ring on and made her way through the filthy alley. She was eyed almost immediately, several hags made to reach for her but Tom subtly lashed out with a couple psychic barbs sending them running, they were not part of today's lesson after all. Eventually she picked up a tail and Lilly did something she'd sworn she'd never do again, she acted weak, looking back behind her and seeing the filthy man following her she threw on a feigned look of panic and increased her pace.

Weaving through the carts and stalls she ducked into a small alley between shops and went for a full sprint losing her glasses in the process, the man quickened his pace and she felt his grubby hand grab her shoulder. Shouting in surprise she gasped as the man swung her around and pinned her to the wall, he leaned in and she gagged as his body oder washed over her, he licked his lips and grinned exposing broken yellow teeth.

"Ol' Rorge didn't think he'd be able to have somethin' so pretty to hisself, no he didn'," his grubby calloused hand began stroking her cheek and she felt Tom's rage building, the problem was she felt her own rising as well. She clamped down on her anger, she pulled the fires back to herself not letting them explode, that would ruin the point of todays lesson after all.

As that thought entered her mind the pure white rage that had nearly consumed her coalesced and crystallized, focusing on her absolute fury she felt the world around her freeze over. The man stopped his ministrations his bloodshot eyes widening in surprise seeing the glamours around the girl fail as the ambient magic was drawn into the frozen furnace before him, he involuntarily began whimpering as the white of the girls eyes turned to obsidian black, her emerald irises glowing. Before she could do anything she heard a spat out,

"Petrificus Totalus," and the man went rigid his eyes showing real fear, Lilly didn't meet Bella's gaze as she let her rage vent around her, the alley practically glowed with the released magic. Tom let out a low whistle ignoring the human refuse that Bella was currently mind raping,

_"Little one, that was...intense,"_ Lilly completely disregarded the hungry tone of Tom's voice as she replied,

_"I have no idea what that was, I knew I couldn't lash out at him, not yet anyway so I just bound my anger, but the more I held it in the angrier I got..."_ Tom nodded approvingly,

"_And the angrier you got the tighter your control became...I've said it before child, you will be a force to be reckoned with when you're older,"_ nodding absently she noticed Bella was frowning at the man who had now pissed himself. She'd been so focused on their test subject she hadn't noticed the alley's frozen over surface nor Lilly's odd behavior, turning to her niece she growled out,

"He's perfect, I've sealed the end of the alley and put silencing charms on him, are you sure you want to go through with this angel?" Taking a deep breath Lilly nodded as she gripped her mother's wand tightly and approached the man, without her permission Tom lashed out at the terrified test subjects mind and reeled back as if burned,

"_Ssshe'sss mine fool!"_ He hissed through her mouth, the parseltongue terrifying the man further, Lilly herself didn't notice his minor hijacking as she observed what the man had planned for her, embracing the cold fury she had felt moments before she could see him panicking as her eyes darkened once again.

"Crucio," Such a simple word, such a swift wand movement, and so so satisfying, she felt the dark power course through her veins, felt the elation of the forbidden magics and the pleasure it fed her. Instead of letting it infuse her like so many others had in the past she instead fed the feelings of pleasure and darkness into her frozen rage further stoking its icey fire; unbeknownst to her she was unconsciously performing what differentiated dark witches from a Dark Lady.

There was no insane cackling, there was no losing herself to the pleasures of the dark arts, the byproducts of which had caused so many witches and wizards to fall once they tasted the forbidden fruit, there was just the power and her will to wield it. The man began screaming silently unable to open his mouth, his twitching became so bad that she heard his bones snap as he desperately tried to flail against his invisible restraints, she cut the curse and calmly stated,

"Am I doing it right Aunt Bella?" She glanced to the older witch from the corner of her eye, afraid to see how she'd react, she was slightly startled to see her holding her chin contemplatively as if she were observing an artist at work.

"Hmm, give it a bit of an extra flourish on the quarter circle turn, you had a bit of energy leakage and it could cause you issues down the line," nodding Lilly cast the unforgivable again and managed to hold it twenty seconds before she was huffing and puffing. The man was a wreck but still seemed lucid enough, Lilly let her fury go and felt a shudder run up her body as her other emotions began to register, chief amongst them disgust and self loathing. She was going to be honest with herself, she was pleased she'd gained no long term joy from torturing a man, even one as deserving as this piece of filth, not knowing why she dared ask the question now of all times she quietly whispered,

"Can you be dark without being evil Aunt Bella?" The older witch went to her knees and pulled the little girl into a hug,

"Of course darling, your whole family is dark, your Daddy, Uncle Moony, Aunt Cissy and even Aunt Andi and Uncle Padfoot despite how they insist otherwise, we're all dark but we still love each other, we still love you." Crying openly now she held Bellatrix tight, yes her family was dark, she was dark, but she wouldn't turn away from what made her who she was to get what she wanted. Bella released her and wiped Lilly's eyes on the sleeve of her robes, "I think today's lessons are done, how about some ice cream?" The girl nodded but her face remained serious, as she let her aunt guide her to the sealed alley end she turned to the man they had left on the ground,

"What about him?" Bella turned around and had a rather funny 'Oh yeah!' look cross her face that made Tom chuckle, she lifted her wand and shrugged,

"Avada Kadavra," both witches watched dispassionately as the killing light struck the man, meeting Lilly's eyes she nodded slightly, she'd see worse in the snake pit, best to learn early. As Bella guided Lilly back to Diagon Alley they were lost in their own thoughts leaving Tom to think about what he'd seen today, his apprentice was getting a bit ahead of herself but he was incredibly pleased with her progress. Sure her training with her crazy aunt hadn't been in the cards but Tom was if anything adaptable and the control and survival instincts she'd developed would serve them well. After a time they reached the shop and settled into a chair next to the reading girl who somehow seemed to have acquired more books in their hour away.

Lilly began reading over the girls shoulder and noticed she was using a yellow muggle highlighter on certain pages, silently whispering the incantation for hawk sight she read the highlighted passages and let her brows raise. The girl was researching the treatment of muggle-borns it seemed, glancing to the parchments scattered around her Lilly became more and more intrigued, there was a slight cough as the girl turned to face her. Lilly felt her heart catch in her throat as the girls piercing brown eyes stared her down, she could practically feel the keen intelligence and magical power pouring from the chocolate orbs. Tom whispered quickly,

"_That might be the in we need with the muggle-borns right there, don't waste it child,"_ shaking herself from her stunned stupor Lilly gave the girl a sheepish smile which only resulted in a single brow raising in question,

"You do realize it's rude to stare?" Blushing (when the hell did she start _blushing?!_) Lilly quickly stammered out,

"So-sorry I was just surprised at what you were researching is all," the brunette seemed to realize she wasn't going to get anymore reading done at the moment so she huffed slightly running a hand through her bushy mane,

"Why do you find it surprising?" Frowning Lilly cocked her head to the side trying to figure out how to best word it,

"Well, and take no offense to this but I'm going to say it's fairly obvious you're a muggle-born yes?" The girl's brow furrowed a bit and she nodded, "It's just odd, outside of my mother I don't think I've really ever heard of muggle-borns taking such interest in our culture." That had apparently been the right thing to say, the girls defensive posture relaxed a bit as she gave Lilly a warm smile, her front teeth were a bit big for her mouth but it didn't seem to detract from her character at all.

"I am a muggle-born, and well..." she worried a her lip a bit which was honestly kind of endearing "You see when I discovered I had magic I was ever so excited, I thought to myself THIS is why I never fit in, why I always felt different and like I didn't belong." Lilly noticed the sad look that crossed the brunette's face and felt a pang of sympathy, it sounded too much like the feelings she had at the Dursley's for her liking.

The girl fidgeted with her skirt a bit before she continued, "When I was brought to the Alley a couple weeks ago I bought all my school supplies for next year, once I got my wand I could not stop smiling I was just...I felt so..."

"Complete," Lily said with a knowing smile, she felt the same way with her mother's wand, if she were to be honest she really had no desire to replace it with her own but alas if she wanted to keep its untraceable status... The brunette nodded enthusiastically as Bellatrix sat at Lilly's table looking at the girls oddly, she handed Lilly her sundae and opened up a copy of the Daily Prophet, Bella's silent 'Please don't mind me.'

"Yes, and as I left the shop I nearly ran into a man, truly it was his fault, his nose was so far up in the air that I am fairly certain he expected everyone to be paying attention to him rather then the other way around. I apologized and he sneered at me and called me a 'filthy mudblood' and kept walking, I'm...I'm use to people not liking me for being a bit of a know it all, I'm not use to them hating me without knowing me." Lillith winced at this and Bella lowered her paper to meet her eyes, after a tense moment of silence she asked,

"Lilly, whose your friend?" Both girls blushed deeply realizing they'd never introduced themselves,

"Oh I'm ever so sorry! I'm Hermione Granger, pleased to meet you!" Giving the girl a bemused grin Bella nodded to her,

"Bellatrix Lupin, and you've already met my niece Lillith Black," Lilly caught Bella's eye and nodded slightly in understanding, she'd tell the girl the truth later if at all, plus technically she was the Black heiress anyway so it wasn't really a lie. Lilly turned back to Hermione and gave her a small smile,

"So it appears you had your first run in with a pure-blood bigot, they're never too kind to muggle-borns I'm afraid, although I have an ongoing theory on that..." Hermione began playing with her hair a bit before sighing,

"Yes well...to further prove my ignorance on the wizarding world I had no idea I'd just been insulted, when my parents took me to Madam Malkin's for robes I asked her what it meant, she gave me a rather pitying look and gave me a crash course on blood status and how backwards and behind the times the magical world is." Bella's hands crinkled the paper a bit in irritation and Tom gritted his proverbial teeth, yes the magical world had issues but it was _theirs _damnit.

Oddly enough Hermione hit off on that without noticing the darkening mood around her, "That planted the seed of an idea in my mind and I mulled it over that night, I brought it up to my mum and dad and well, they reminded me of a holiday we took to France." Leaning back in her seat the girl began twirling her quill between her thumb and forefinger, "We'd arrived at our hotel in Paris and met an American family, they were nice I suppose but they'd brought along a pair of relatives that they obviously weren't too fond of. We'd agreed to have dinner together and went to a higher class restaurant, mum and dad are both dentists so it wasn't the first time I'd been taken to such a place." Bellatrix looked confused as she asked,

"Dentists? What are those?" Lilly coughed to hide the laugh she had at her Aunt's ignorance,

"Muggle doctors that specialize in healing and replacing teeth, no skela-grow or the like so they have to do things the hard way, namely drilling" Bella grimaced and subconsciously rubbed her jaw, the very idea was...she shuddered a bit and motioned for the girl to continue.

"Anyway the family was very pleasant and I got along with their son well enough, the other couple, his uncle and aunt apparently were obnoxious, they'd come to France fully expecting everyone to adapt to them, they whinged about the food, the service, the menus being in French, the waiters being incompetent, it didn't end. Eventually the family got so embarrassed that they excused themselves and we soon followed, we ran into them a few more times that week and apparently the obnoxious couple had become something like social pariahs, no one wanted to be around them."

Hermione stretched a bit then met Lilly's eyes with a look of resolve, "I understood what my parents were trying to get at reminding of that story, you can't just walk into a foreign culture and expect everything to be the same, for everything to be the way you see it should be. So I decided to learn everything I can, to gain all the knowledge most muggle-borns ignore and become a part of the wizarding world mind body and soul, when that's done, well..than I can start helping make changes that are needed while being respectful to that which doesn't ."

She blushed fiercely realizing that not only were the ravenettes staring at her, so were many of the other patrons, and for the life of her she didn't know what to think of all the approving looks. Lilly had a massive smile crawl up her face as she hopped down from her chair and faced Hermione directly,

"That's so...very Slytherin of you," meeting her gaze evenly she dropped her tone so only Hermione could hear her, "I'm not making any major changes to my plans, not yet but...you've intrigued me, I think you and I may have similar goals and we'd be mutually useful to each other. I'm not in the habit of finding peers but...you're different." Still staring at the perplexed witch Lilly offered her a hand, "Friends?" Hermione had been calculating a thousand ways this strange girl would have rejected or degraded her after her little speech this...wasn't what she expected. Shakily taking her hand she nodded,

"I'd...I'd like a friend," Lilly grinned at her happily, she took a piece of blank parchment off Hermione's table and quickly wrote her phone number's for the Tonks' home and Lupin Manor, Spinners End didn't have a phone but daddy wouldn't be back till the holidays anyway.

"Me too, I think...I think we've much to talk about Hermione, please give me a call at either of these places, I'm usually at the Tonks' home during the week and Lupin Manor on the weekends, if you want to know how our world works and you really want to embrace it well...I think I can be of help." Hermione wasn't stupid, as thrilled as she was at prospect of having a friend she knew when something was too good to be true,

"And...and what do you get out of it?" Grinning a bit Lilly leaned in to whisper in her ear,

"I'm thinking I get a co-conspirator who very well may be able to keep up with me, you're Slytherin to the core but you'd be dead within a week in the snake pit, together watching each others backs well...I've always liked the term 'Hostile Takeover', it has gravitas." Leaning back she caught the slight smirk Hermione was sporting,

"Can I call you tomorrow?" Lilly giggled a bit and gave her a quick curtsy,

"But of course, but now Aunt Bella needs to get me home before anyone finds out we took off without finishing her project," Bella gasped as she knocked over her sundae,

"Morgana's tits I forgot about the deadline, come come Lillith we need to get home and summon that demon, the apothacary is going to be furious if he doesn't get that blood by tomorrow." Chuckling Lilly rolled her eyes at her Aunt as Hermione squeaked out,

"Demon?!" Laughing Lilly patted her shoulder,

"Just a small one, imp blood is a necessary component for most banishing potions but your average summoner is too much of a nancy to get it from the demon," her grin went positively feral, "We don't suffer from such problems, plus its incredibly profitable." Saying her goodbyes to her new friend and her strange Aunt Hermione sat back down at her table glancing at her watch, well she'd planned ingratiating herself into a pure or half blood families graces but this was an unexpected turn of events. It was obvious Lilly had her own plans but instead of using each other...

"Partners," she said with a smile, friends and partners in crime, she rather liked the sound of that, gathering her books up she packed them back into her bag and walked back to The Leaky Cauldron to wait for her parents. Today's events had been unexpected but not unwelcome, she'd thought she'd have to go into Ravenclaw since Slytherin was out of the question, but with Lillith's help...sipping the butterbeer the friendly barkeep had slipped her she crawled up the bar stool and and began planning the future.

The following year saw Hermione become an integral part of Lilly's life, the adults who cared for her were actually ecstatic that she'd made a friend close to her age that was free of Dumbledore, the man took practically no interest in muggle-borns after all. The fact that he delegated introducing them to the magical world to his incredibly over worked deputy headmistress rather showed how much he cared, it didn't matter in the end though because it directly benefited Lillith's plans. Hermione was an information sponge, and while she had some hard wired ideals she'd learned how to keep them under wraps thanks to Bellatrix and Andromeda's teachings, both witches were pleased at how easily the girl picked up occulmancy.

It hadn't taken long for the pair to become thick as thieves, Uncle Padfoot began calling them the start of the next generation of Marauder's, dad wasn't amused when he'd heard that but honestly outside of learning to be an animagus she had no desire to prank people. Really she'd have ideas prepared beforehand for specific acts of vengeance but outside of that she didn't see the point of making herself the obvious target for when shenanigans occurred; this appeased her dad, as far as he was concerned plotting revenge was just part of being Slytherin.

Back to the animagus thing, thanks to Tom letting her 'cheat' a bit by allowing her to access some of his more advanced transfiguration techniques Lilly and Hermione had actually managed to complete the mediation rituals to discover their animal form within six months of starting. Uncle Padfoot and Aunt Bellatrix were both beside themselves with pride, a month before Lilly's eleventh birthday they'd completed their first full transformation, and sweet Morgana did it hurt. The girl who let herself get hit with the cruciatus curse to harden herself to it felt that it hurt, something to think on, after a few weeks practice and several embarrassing incidents involving their clothing not changing with them the two animagus sat before their mentors.

"She's so cute!" Bellatrix crooned as she stroked the head feathers of the green eyed raven fledgling sitting in her palm, Sirius was grinning at the fox pup sniffing around the corners of the room, the breed appeared to be a red but the fur was the unmistakable shade of Hermione's hair.

"I think it is absolutely fitting that those girls ended up as two of the more cunning and curious animals found on the isles, very fitting," Severus stated as he leaned in the doorway, the small raven adjusted her wings a bit and then flew towards the potions master. In mid flight she shifted to her human form and Lillith landed in the surprised mans embrace,

"Daddy! When did you get back? I thought you had to get everything prepared for school to start?" Smiling fondly at his daughter he placed her on the ground and greeted Hermione who also shifted back to her human form,

"I just arrived, and I do have much to do, but I hear you had a bit of an incident today," frowning Lilly nodded,

"Yeah Ollivander couldn't find a perfect match for me, then he tried to get me to use the brother of the Dark Lords wand, bloody thing _exploded_! I spent most of the afternoon at Saint Mungo's getting the splinters removed." Grimacing Snape began stroking her hair calming her down, Hermione interjected with a bit of good news though,

"He did say to keep an eye out for magical materials that call out to her, if she finds components he can use he'll gladly make her a custom wand," Lilly smiled at that,

"Yeah that's kinda neat, and being at a magical school surrounded by all sorts of animals I'm sure something will call to me, until then I'll use moms..." Severus stared at her a moment before calmly stating,

"What did you do?" Eyes widening his daughter began wringing her hands a bit as she muttered something incoherent, cocking a brow he waited for her to crack, eventually she dropped her head and sighed.

"I may have lifted a wand off a drunk at the Leaky Cauldron and let Ollivander think it was mine to avoid putting the trace on mom's..." Severus blinked rapidly and was cut off from responding by Bellatrix and Sirius' barking laughter, after a moment Severus began rubbing his eyes muttering to himself. Hermione looked highly amused by the turn of events,

"It was quite the Slytherin thing to do, is she going to be in trouble?" She said this with a bit of apprehension but Severus only rolled his eyes,

"Please I already allowed her to become an unregistered animagus and had her train with _Blacks_ for the past five years, I think I'd be quite the hypocrite if I started calling her out on her scheming at this point. Just...don't get caught dear, all right?" Smiling Lilly hugged him again,

"Love you daddy, thanks for understanding," sighing Severus shook his head and said his goodbyes, reminding the girls to keep up their studies he vanished in the floo, for once Lilly wasn't sad to see him go since by the end of the month she'd get to see him every day. The rest of the month was spent getting to know Lillith's new familiar, the snowy white owl had been a gift from Aunt Andi and Uncle Ted, she'd named her Hedwig and the disturbingly intelligent bird seemed to be quite happy that her mistress could fly around with her.

September first came about much faster than Lilly would have expected, she'd insisted that she go to platform 9 3/4 on her own because honestly she didn't want to cry in front of her entire class while leaving her family, so with understanding in their eyes the Tonks, Lupin's, and Sirius wished her farewell. Once she was dropped off at the station a half hour early she used the time to hook up with Hermione, the pair loitered about sitting on their trunks marveling at the huge steam engine when she heard a familiar voice.

Perking up she took Hermione's hand and led her to a trio of aristocratic looking blondes, the man and boy looked at them with practiced disdain, the woman not so much,

"Lillith, Hermione! So good to see you!" Both girls grinned and curtsied in sync,

"Hello Aunt Cissy, are you doing well?" Nodding she gestured to her son and husband,

"You of course remember Draco from Diagon Alley, he's been quite enamored by you," Draco and Lilly both blushed at that and averted their gazes, Lucius looked amused at the reaction. Narcissa had informed him of all the details involving the girl and put simply he approved, if his son honestly became interested in her one day, well, there were far worse matches available. Clearing his throat he drawled out,

"I heard you had a bit of an incident after we left your company," rather than be embarrassed Lilly let out an annoyed huff and related what had happened in the wand shop and Ollivander's promise. Stroking his chin Lucius nodded slightly,

"If you do find elements for your own wand do tell Draco, I may be able to connect you with a wandmaker that is not so...sympathetic to Dumbledore's cause," he knew he'd said the right thing immediately as the girls eyes shined with a cunning gleam and her smirk became a toothy grin.

"Don't make a girl a promise you might not be able to keep Lord Malfoy," he scoffed and gave her a mild bow,

"My lady I always keep my word," still grinning the girls said their goodbyes to the Malfoy's and they flanked Draco leading him to the train, the boy hadn't spoken much but he offered to help get their trunks on board so they took him up on his offer. Eventually they took a cabin and Lilly used her wand to place the trunks in the overhead storage since there was no one to see her perform under aged magic. Settling in Lilly adjusted her hair and made sure her makeup was in order in her small compact mirror, she was going to keep the scar covered as much as possible and she'd thrown on a light eyeliner for the hell of it.

After an uncomfortable silence they got Draco talking, he'd been informed beforehand that Hermione was never to be referred to as a mudblood by his mother, he'd been rather impressed when she explained the girls desire to join their culture fully rather then muggle'ing it up. So he was pleased when both his cabin mates followed him as he discussed sitting in on the Wizengamot with his father,

"And than Fudge began panicking, eventually he turned to father in the _middle_ of the session and asked 'Is that all right Lucius?', I thought father was going to hex the man right there." Lilly snickered and Hermione just stared at him aghast,

"He implicated his benefactor in the middle of the entire court?! How has that man not been black bagged by the pure-bloods yet!" Snorting in amusement the blonde rolled his eyes,

"I have no idea, maybe he's just too useful of an idiot to sacrifice yet? Anyway father's eye starts ticking which is your first indicator that things are about to get...hairy, so-" he was interrupted as the door was slid open. The trio glanced over to see a redhead in threadbare rumpled clothes and dirt on his face, he looked at them scowling as he realized they were all wearing green, after a moment he asked,

"Have any of you seen Lilly Potter?" Exchanging glances with her friends Hermione spoke up,

"I'm sorry I have not been introduced to anyone by that name," sneering a bit the boy slammed the door shut and stormed off, Draco looked mildly confused,

"Err...what was that about?" Hermione shrugged while Lilly eyed her,

"So I've gotten you to out and out lie now eh? My powers of corruption are stronger then I thought," Hermione gave her a disdainful sniff as she began leafing through a book,

"If you recall you introduced yourself to me as Lillith Black, not Lilly Potter, as you can see I did not lie to the ragamuffin." Draco busted out laughing and Lilly soon joined, the journey remained quiet after that until a timid knock was heard at the door, considering the last person had just barged in Lilly moved to open it. What awaited her pulled on her heartstrings, the emotions made Tom groan about female softness but she told him to shut it, the chubby boy in front of her was sobbing and asking if she'd seen a toad.

"No I haven't, what's his name?" Looking shocked that someone was paying attention to him he sniffed a bit and said,

"Tr-Trevor," Lilly smiled at him and held her wand in the palm of her hand, she muttered,

"Point Me, Trevor the toad," the wand spun a few times then pointed to the far end of the train, gripping the wand firmly she calmly cast out, "Accio Travor the toad," there was an indignant croak as the projectile amphibian came hurtling past several students. Timing it right she gently caught the toad and gave it to the now elated boy, he grinned at her happily and offered his hand,

"Th-thanks so much, my names Neville, Neville Longbottom," grinning in return she shook his hand and invited him to sit with her friends, he seemed genuinely shocked but accepted after a bit of prodding. Introductions were made and Lilly was doing her best to break the boy of his obvious self esteem issues, she had to catch Draco's eye a couple times to warn him to not needle the poor boy. After he related the horrible stories of his family thinking him a squib Draco actually looked at him in mild confusion,

"Longbottom, may I see your wand?" Looking terrified he turned to Lilly who was equally confused but nodded, he handed it to the Malfoy heir and he scoffed a bit, handing it back he asked, "Longbottom, that wand is quite old, you're family is one of the Thirteen, I _know_ you have the money to buy a new one. What gives?" Neville sighed and muttered about his grans fixation on him taking after his father, Lilly decided now was a good time to cultivate a future ally,

"Neville, I get the symbolism I really do, I'm using my mother's wand after all, but if the wand doesn't chose you it won't work right, hell I had one _explode_ on me in Ollivander's shop, here cast a lumos with your wand real quick." He did so and the saddest little light in the world was all they got, sighing she took the wand from him and handed him her mother's, "Again." This time the light flooded the cabin and his eyes widened in shock,

"Brilliant!" Smirking Lilly took it back and handed Neville his wand,

"Yeah, we'll talk to Professor Snape when we get to the castle, he can arrange a visit to Diagon Alley sometime this weekend and we can get _your_ wand." The poor boy looked gobsmacked,

"Sna-Snape?!" He asked with real fear, "I've heard he's terrifying!" Lilly cackled a bit while Hermione and Draco smirked,

"He can be but lets just say he has a soft spot for me and those I call friends, trust me on this one all right? I'll keep you safe," looking at her in awe he thanked her profusely and after a few minutes he wandered off to his own cabin to change.

"You dear Lillith are a Wicked Witch," Hermione stated with a smirk, Draco was shaking his head looking at his new friend with admiration,

"That boy will do anything you ask of him at this point, and one of the thirteen to boot! The amount of political power you could exert..." Lilly let out her 'Aunt Bella' cackle no longer able to contain herself, catching her breath she twisted in her seat so she could rest her head in Hermion's lap.

"And I haven't even been sorted yet, goddess sometimes it's truly amazing being me," this got further chuckles from her friends, so far this year was looking up, she sighed in contentment and let her mind wander, Tom eventually spoke up sounding supremely satisfied,

_"Lilly?" _

_"Yes Tom?"_

_"I mean this with no intent to flatter, you are undoubtedly the best apprentice I've ever had,"_ she snorted at that,

_"And how many apprentices have you had?"_

_"Honestly? Dozens, and they've always failed me, this is going to be a very interesting year"_ letting the grin take hold one last time before she dozed off she agreed,

"_Yuuup..."_

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**_This was fun, also I made Bella and Lilly forget about their glamour charms wearing off on purpose, Lilly because she was preoccupied, Bella because she's crazy. Did I mention I love writing Bella and Lilly interactions? Anyway PLEASE REVIEW!_**


	6. Making a Statement

**Edit 1/15/2016-So a common complaint for this chapter is Lilly over playing her hand at the Slytherin table making a scene and people start whining about 'Mary Sues' and shite like that and honestly, I'm just bloody sick of getting random reviews bringing it up. As is clarified in later chapters, Lilly is an _eleven_ year old girl with plans of world domination and a megalomaniac living in her head egging her on so guess what? You're right, she shouldn't do some of the things she does but she's still learning and will make mistakes. *Sigh* Sorry, just got something like...five reviews in the past week bringing it up damn near a year after it was originally posted, gets irritating especially when it gets lampshaded the very next chapter...**

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Lilly was roused from a rather pleasant dream involving her, Hermione, and Draco cackling over the broken remains of a burnt down Ministry of Magic by an elderly sing song voice,

"Sweets, anyone want to buy some sweets?" Not moving from her incredibly comfortable position on Hermione's lap Lilly ignored the trolley lady as she began contemplating how one _would_ burn down a mostly stone and metal building,

_'Fiendfyre I'd imagine," _Tom threw out, Lilly mentally nodded at that,

_"Or that explosion curse Aunt Bella and I worked out, 'Czar Bombarda', that could wreck someones day," _Tom 'hmm'd at this before replying,

_"Could go the Guy Fawkes route and blow the building up with muggle explosives,_" Lilly felt her brows physically raise at this,

_"YOU know about the Gunpowder Rebellion? Color me impressed," _Tom rolled his eyes while scoffing,

_"Dear I DID spend a lot of time in the muggle world keep in mind,"_ Lilly groaned at this,

_"I'm aware considering you are singing Queen to yourself whenever you get bored, I swear if I hear 'We are the Champions' one more time..."_ Taking a teasing tone Tom rebutted with,

_"Would you prefer Bohemian Rhapsody?"_ Mulling it over she then nodded,

_"Yes, actually I would, and as for going Fawkes on the ministry not a bad idea, need to make sure my useful idiots aren't there at the time, we've got about a decade to plan this out so no real rush, I'm thinking in a few years it'll be easy enough to get our hands on some Soviet gear. With the collapse of the U.S.S.R imminent the Warsaw Pact will go with it, and the Russians made...quite a bit of material that can fall through the cracks."_ Tom was saved from a response when she felt a slight weight land on her chest, cracking her eyes she saw a couple chocolate frogs before her, glancing to Draco he smiled at her giving her a slight nod.

Blushing a bit and not quite knowing why she than grinned at him in return, "Thanks Draco," she said as she sat up and tore into the candy, Hermione was idly chewing the tip of a licorice wand still reading her book one handed so Lilly decided to see what her Pure-Blood friend knew about the muggle world. A half hour later he was gaping at her with an incredulous look writ across his face,

"Muggles landed on the moon, more then _twenty years_ ago?" Lilly giggled a bit at that nodding as she finished her last chocolate, she'd discovered at some point in the past five years that it was her only real weakness. Well that and hugs, she could never get enough of those,

"Yup! And the spaceship the yanks used had the processing power of a modern wristwatch, you don't know what I mean but trust me when I say muggle technology has progressed more in the past ninety years than it has in the past four thousand. They have weapons that are like muskets but instead of being able to fire three times a minute they can fire thirty times a _second_, they have weapons that can be fired from the other side of the world that can destroy entire cities leaving them poisoned craters for generations. They have ships bigger then the entirety of Diagon Alley that carry aeroplanes (think metal bird like brooms that go faster than the speed of sound) that can raze cities hundreds of kilometers away without ever having to even _see_ what they're shooting at."

She was grinning at the now white faced Malfoy scion, the entire time she'd been speaking she'd been drawing photos out of her bag showing off everything she was talking about, bless Hermione and her insistence on visual aids. While Draco was gaping at the evidence Hermione let her book drop so she could meet his eyes,

"That's why Lilly and I are both supporters of the agenda to keep muggles out of the magical world, Salazar had a point that they'll destroy our way of life but not quite in the way he thought, we're literally one major incident from having our entire society being purged. We're outnumbered six billion to ten million world wide, rather sobering isn't it?" Draco could only nod as he shuffled through the photos Lilly had handed him, before he could reply there was yet another knock at the door but this one sounded rather self assured, yelling to come in the door slid aside to reveal a pair of identical twins.

They were both redheads with well groomed shoulder length hair, mischievous but friendly grins gracing their freckled faces, they were both immaculately dressed in crisply pressed red dress shirts accompanied with black ties and slacks. The ensemble was finished off with well polished shoes and each had a silver ring with a blue stone set in its center on their right hands. As one they bowed to the group,

"Ello likkle firsties allow us to introduce ourselves,"

"He's Fred,"

"And he's George,"

"And we're the Weasley twins," their back and forth banter ended in unison here, bemused Lilly stood and curtsied,

"I am Lillith Potter, these are my companions Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy," the twins brows rose at her name and twitched at Draco's but they had no other reaction than that,

"Good to meet you dear lady,"

"And so polite too!"

"Indeed dear brother, anyway we're just going on our annual 'warn the firskies' run"

"Indeed! See we're the quintessential pranksters of Hogwarts,"

"The spiritual successors of the Marauders if you will,"

"And we're just giving you a heads up that if you or any other first years accidentally get caught in one of our pranks just come to us and we'll gladly reverse it,"

"Quite, we've found that most kids entering an unfamiliar place separated from their family and everything they've ever known for nearly a year,"

"Have a tendency to view pranking as bullying, so its best to just clear the air beforehand." The three friends were exchanging bemused looks at the twins method of speech, Lilly spoke first giving them a somewhat regal nod,

"I appreciate the warning Messres Weasley, now what's this about the Marauders?" The pair of redheads had a glint in their eyes as they described their idols, after about five minutes Lilly was on the floor laughing,

"Oh my Goddess! Padfoot is my Uncle Sirius, Moony is my Uncle Remus, and my father James was Prongs!" The twins eyes widened in shock and they began demanding details but one word ceased her jovial mood,

"Wormtail," she spat with such fury that the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees, "Is someone you're rather familiar with, Peter Pettigrew." Their faces fell at that, after an awkward silence they talked for a few more minutes before Hermione spoke up,

"Excuse me do you have a younger brother?" The twins exchanged an exasperated look before sighing,

"Yes," George conceded,

"Not that we'd readily admit it mind you," Fred continued, Hermione cocked her head than asked,

"Dirty, rude, tatty clothing?" They winced in unison,

"Yeah sounds about right," they replied, Draco's curiosity finally got the better of his families animosity with the Weasley's,

"Than why isn't he as well dressed as you two?" They ran their hands through their hair, it really was quite brilliant how they operated in tandem,

"Err, most of our lives we were rather, _un_-wealthy, one of the holdovers was that mum and dad will only give us nice things if we can prove we can take care of them, we're rather particular about our appearance since we eventually want to go into business for ourselves," George replied with the longest none-stereo sentence they'd heard from the twins yet.

"Ron umm...he's...lazy, mum kinda coddled him a lot, thank Merlin little Ginny emulates Bill and Charlie rather then him. Anyway he has to prove he can take care of his things and well...he's failed, horrifically and consistently,"

"And the rudeness?" Hermione threw in, at this they both shrugged,

"You've got us, if the boy doesn't straighten up he's going to have a very lonely seven years," after that Lilly promised to get them in contact with Padfoot and Moony for pranking tips, excusing themselves the twins left leaving the cabin in contemplative silence. Lilly than broke down into a fit of giggles,

"They're just like Uncle Sirius, closet Slytherin's moonlighting as Gryffindors!" Draco nodded rubbing his chin unconsciously imitating his father,

"Yes...something tells me those two are not easily manipulated," Hermione hummed in agreement,

"If we're going to use them it will likely be as a partnership, you could feel the restrained intelligence, something tells me there is far more to them then they want anyone to realize." Her companions nodded in agreement, after another half hour they asked Draco to leave the room a moment so they could change, ten minutes later they traded places with him then they all eventually retook their seats now fully robed. Lilly was fidgeting with her sleeves before she sighed and asked,

"What...what if we don't get sorted into the same house?" The other two paused, exchanged a look then grinned at their ravenette friend,

"Dear Lillith, I sincerely doubt you're ending up anywhere _but_ Slytherin, same with Draco, worst case scenario I'll end up in Ravenclaw but I honestly doubt it, the 'claws hoard knowledge for its own sake and never use it. Me? I have...plans," giving Hermione a watery smile Lilly threw her arms around her friends shoulders and pulled them close for the rest of the ride. As they rolled into the station they gathered their things and followed the line of students exiting the train, Lilly let Hedwig out of her cage so she could fly to the owlery then carted her trunk next to everyone elses; Tom informed her that the castles house elves would take care the luggage later.

As the trio tried to figure out what to do next they heard a bellowed,

"Firs' years teh me! Firs' Years tehyme!" Turning to face a giant of a man Lilly's eyes widened in shock, the hairy man was more intimidating than Vernon could ever have hoped to be,

_"No way in hell I could burn that guy to death though, he could use me as a toothpick!"_ Tom broke out into laughter at this,

_"Dearest heart why is your immediate response to new experiences always 'Burn it?' I'm not judging mind you I just find it amusing,"_ Lilly mentally shrugged,

_"If all else fails burn it, if that doesn't work blow it up, if that doesn't work use more boom, boom solves everything,"_ Tom snickered shaking his head,

_"Love you spend far too much time with your Aunt Bella,"_ Lilly just 'hmm'd' at that, she disagreed completely, Aunt Bella time was time well spent, approaching the giant man she curtsied to him, no reason to be rude.

"Hello sir, I'm Lilly Potter," the enormous man's face burst into a massive grin that immediately put her to ease and his jovial laughter made her feel bad about contemplating catching him on fire.

"Li'l Lilly! By Merlin you look like teh perfec' li'l mix of yer mum and dad!" Eyes widening she whispered,

"You knew mum and dad?" Grinning even wider he very gently patted her on her head, it was so oddly comforting to have someone many would look at as a monster treating her like a porcelain doll, it felt...good for some reason.

"Aye that I did little on', how about we meet fer tea some time and I ca' tell ya some stories?" Lilly grinned and nodded at this, he smiled in return then escorted the group of first years to a dock lined with small boats.

"Four ta a boat, no mor' than tha' unless yea' wanna fall in!" Taking his advice to heart the trio entered a boat already occupied by a mocca skinned boy, his intelligent near gold eyes assessing them. Lilly nodded to the boy smiling,

"Hello, I'm Lillith, these are my friends Hermione and Draco," eyeing them suspiciously he nodded slowly,

"Blaise, pleasure," his gaze was cold and calculating, his tone held no emotion, an observer then, might be best to acquire him early,

"We're all going to Slytherin, we have it on good authority that we're going to make a bit of a splash, you don't need to make any decisions now but I offer an open invitation to discuss a mutually beneficial relationship at a later date." The boys assessing gaze focused on her, and after a few moments he smirked,

"Very well then," eventually the boats cast off and Lilly distracted herself from her nervous jitters by performing complex arthimancy in her head, it was a trick Aunt Andi had taught her to mess with anyone trying to read your thoughts but it did wonders as a calming technique as well. Glancing up as Hermione grasped her hand tightly Lilly's eyes widened as she got her first look of the castles lights across the lake, Draco surprised her by quietly murmuring,

"Beautiful..." She couldn't help but agree, as they reached the far docks the children disembarked, as they milled about before the castles gates several ghosts buzzed above them. Many of the students screamed but much to her satisfaction Draco simply scoffed and Hermione raised a single brow, Tom groaned,

_"I KNEW it, that was so totally planned they did the same thing to us!"_ Lilly was a bit amused at how cross he seemed by such a simple thing but decided not to share that, Tom could get a bit sulky and if the voices in your head stop responding to you it gets a bit lonely. The group approached a very stern looking woman, she looked severely at the group and introduced herself as dad's playful rival to the house cup Professor McGonagall. As the graying woman explained the house system her green eyes met Lilly's and she felt a sharp jolt, frowning a bit she broke the gaze and shook her head.

_"The hell was that?!_" Lilly spat out to Tom, he seemed a bit contemplative for a few seconds before replying,

_"That sort of connection is usually due to blood, I'd make it a point to meet up with her at a later date, that old bastard has kept you so ignorant of the past that she might be a relative that was insulated from you,"_ growling at the mere mention of the Headmaster Lilly silently nodded her acknowledgment. She followed her classmates and sat huddled with them as they were brought into the Great Hall, she looked to the ceiling in awe, the glittering stars seeming to call to her, Hermione caught her eye and gave her a wane smile as she took her best friends hand.

"The enchant is amazing...but I think I prefer the real thing," grinning in return Lilly nodded in agreement,

"What the astronomy tower is for right?" Hermione winked then remained silent as a stool and a tatty old hat were brought out to the floor, the hat began...singing...and goddess was it horrid, eventually Mcgonagall announced they'd have to wear the moth eaten thing to get sorted. Sighing Lilly waited, when the Deputy headmistress called out,

"Granger, Hermione," Lilly held her breath, and much to her amusement the hat was placed on her friends head for less then a second when it yelled out,

"Oh hell, SLYTHERIN!" The hall was silent as the first muggle-born in a century confidently sauntered over to the house of snakes table smirking and completely ignoring the hateful glares from her new housemates and the horrified looks of the professors. Neville ended up in Gryffindor, good for him really, and of course Draco went into Slytherin, then the moment of truth occured,

"Potter, Lillith!" Marching forward she ignored all the whispers and gasps, the sheep asking where her scar and glasses were (glasses? The hell?) and she took a seat on the stool keeping her face completely composed. Fiddling with the head of house ring she'd kept in her pocket until this point she slipped it on her finger and felt the castles magic pulse around her, grinning as she saw the Headmaster blanch as he lost control of the wards she kept her head bowed down to avoid notice, soon the hat was placed on her head and she thought out,

"You may verbalize this, I do not wish to hide the process from the other students," nonplussed the hat was about to argue before she snapped out, "Do _not_question me Archimedes." The hat seemed to gasp before it cleared its throat for the entire hall to hear,

"Let's see, much bravery and courage, after surviving your childhood with those horrible muggles I'm not shocked at that," the staff shifted about uncomfortably as they glared at the Headmaster who up to this point had remained quiet, the hat continued unabated. "Deathly loyal to your friends and family, you'd gladly kill to protect those you consider your own," Professor Sprout and the other Hufflepuff's became alert at this but the hat wasn't nearly finished yet. "Keenly intelligent, knowledge is your power and you use it as Thor wielded Mjolnir striking down those in your way," Professor Flitwick smiled at that, just like her mother. "But your cunning, oh your guile, you are just like your mother in so many ways, and as the Lady of your house it's only fitting you should be placed in SLYTHERIN!"

Smirking she stood as the hall went as quiet as a sepulcher, gliding on silent feet she feigned ignorance as her black school robes shifted to sage green with silver piping and trim, Slytherin house's crest formed on her left breast as the combined Potter/Black appeared on her right. Stopping before Hermione and Draco she turned to the rest of the house as all eyes were on her, this was the power play, this would decide everything. Throwing herself into her ever present rage she focused on her life before the good days, what the Dursley's had done to her, the horrors she had to endure, the pain, the suffering, the absolute aloneness and fed it into her frozen fury. Hoarfrost formed around her feet as the enchanted ceiling fluctuated, the candles dimmed nearly losing their light and the very atmosphere seemed to freeze solid. As her obsidian/emerald gaze met each of the snakes of Slytherin she spoke loud enough for only them to hear,

"No one touches what is mine," she glanced to Hermione and Draco before continuing drawing every latent joule and BTU of energy into herself, "Are we clear?" Thoroughly cowed the house of Slytherin nodded in horrified sync, suddenly as if there had not been a goddess walking amongst them a moment earlier Lilly grinned happily, "Brilliant!" She stated before releasing her anger lightening the room instantly. She then sat next to her friends and promptly ignored the rest of the ceremony until Blaise was placed in her house, he cautiously made his way to their group before sitting across from Lillith, the Headmaster made some asinine speech about avoiding certain death if they went to the third floor corridor but she wasn't paying attention to that. She was observing her fellow students, the ginger prat, Don, Ren...Ron? Was glaring at her and the rest of the Gryffindor's outside of the twins seemed to be in a state of shock, this was altogether amusing, glancing up to the head table she noticed her dad hiding a smile and the headmaster giving her a disapproving look.

Bringing her hatred for the man to the forefront of her mind she met his gaze evenly and unknowingly sported a sadistic grin when he reeled back in shock, legilimency was a bitch when you trawled about without permission. Digging into her dinner she began chatting with her fellow housemates, most of them were giving her either fearful, hateful, or contemplative looks, she filed that all away for tomorrow, honestly the only lesson they needed to learn at the moment was to leave Hermione alone, she had seven years to get everything else underway. As the feast was finished she followed the prefect down to the dungeons, she hadn't caught his name before but as they stopped at a dead end he addressed the group with a bit of stiff arrogance,

"The password to enter the dormitories will change at random, it is your responsibility to check the board every morning for changes, the current password is 'Pure-blood' so if-" Lilly walked past the boy and stared at the snake head ornament above the hidden door,

"_Open"_ she hissed, the stone snake bowed and the door slid aside, Draco, Hermione, and much to her surprise and pleasure Blaise followed her through the doorway, she promptly turned around and smirked at the terrified house of Slytherin, "_Clossse" _she hissed again as the door slammed in their faces. Before the rest of her house could enter she buried her head in Hermione's shoulder and laughed, hard, harder then she ever had before, goddess she was looking forward to the next seven years.

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**As stated above...**


	7. Asserting Dominance

**This is what I like to call a 'Bridging' chapter, not much happens but it needed to be written ergo I got it out of the way as soon as possible, for the most part I wanted to set the tone of Lilly's average morning so I wouldn't have to repeat the process down the line. I know its a bit of a let down but really I personally hate it when authors pad their word count by going over the same tripe chapter to chapter, or (and this really pisses me off) quote directly from the source material for paragraphs on end. Anyway, the next chapter will be a condensed version of the next two months leading to Halloween so look forward to it, and as always REVIEW!**

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Severus Snape was in short highly amused at the moment, according to a report from one of the house elves Lilly had taken over the dormitory for a short while to allow her chosen favorites to claim their rooms and ward them than had of course acted as if nothing happened. The prefects were at a loss as what to do because literally _everything_ in the dungeons obeyed her, so they'd taken the logical course of action and pretended the eleven year old girl hadn't run roughshod over them and sent her to his office.

Now though was the staff meeting that'd he'd been both expecting and dreading since that dark day five years ago, Albus Dumbledore was pacing behind his desk as his heads of house watched him warily, Severus met Minerva's gaze and she quirked a brow at him. This was a massive show of emotion for the stoic woman so he decided to one up her and allow the corner of his mouth to form a smile, her eyes widened as she broke the staring contest and refocused on the headmaster.

"I am deeply concerned about young Miss Potter, I had hoped she would come here eager to learn after spending most of her childhood with her muggle family yet she's behaving disturbingly like another orphaned student from the past." Severus deserved an acting award of some sort for remaining quiet and stoic, really calling those..._things_ family, than going so far as to thinly compare her to The Dark Lord? Disgusting, it was almost as if we was chiding her for being orphaned, Filius coughed to get everyone's attention,

"You all heard the hat, "_Surviving her childhood with those horrible muggles?_" I'm thinking there is more going on here than there appears to be Albus." Dumbledore gave the diminutive professor a condescending smile as he waved his hand,

"Oh I'm sure that was simple hyperbole dear boy her family was perfectly suitable to take care of her I assure you," before the now riled dueling master could retort Minerva exploded hitting the headmaster with her double-barreled Scottish brogue.

"Oh _really_ Albus? Wasn't I the one that warned you they were the very worst of muggles, that they shouldn't be allowed their own son much less the daughter of my great-nephew and his wonderful wife, both of which were the best students I'd had in _decades_?!" Her accent was getting to the point that one would need a knife to cut through it, "The hat sees through all glamours, obliviations, and even the Imperious curse, if it said it happened it BLOODY WELL HAPPENED! Now you are going to find out exactly what events occurred that led to my great-grandniece seeking solace in _Slytherin_ or I will personally tear that ridiculous beard from your face and get the answers MYSELF!"

Truth be told Severus held no ire towards her for that, after all she _was_ right and he was quite inclined to see her go through with her threat, Albus was blanching as he stared down the Scottish apocalypse so it was probably for the best that Ponoma spoke out.

"That girl exudes confidence and her gaze...did any of you actually look her in the eye? There is pain, and anger so so much anger in those young eyes, I don't know what she's been through but it wasn't pleasant." Dumbledore sighed again as he resumed pacing,

"I assure all of you that she had a perfectly safe and normal childhood, I prepared everything so she'd grow up outside of the limelight and away from those that wished her harm," Severus tried, he really did but he couldn't reign in his sneer as he spat out,

"Oh? That is why you stuck her with Lily's vile bigoted sister that was so horrible that she had all but disowned her and stated that she was to never be within FIFTY METERS of her child at any time?!" The room went silent as all eyes fell on him, Severus knew he was risking years of planning but the insufferable man before him was touching off on every raw nerve he'd been nursing since October 31 1981. Minerva finally spoke,

"Severus, what do you mean?" Sneering in a manner that would have your average first year running in terror he spat out,

"Petunia is the worst possible example of humanity, Lily tried so hard to reconcile with her but she despised magic, she despised her sister being prettier than her, for being smarter, for being gifted, for being _different;_ the last time Lily tried to make peace with her the crazy bint tried to _stab_ her with a kitchen knife. _That_ is who the illustrious Headmaster left our savior with when he ditched the child on her doorstep with nothing more then a blanket and note demanding that she care for the child '_or else._'" There was a pause before Albus stated,

"I did what was best for us all, now we need to discuss where the girl learned such a strong illusion charm," this non sequitor actually managed to throw the four heads of house, Filius looked his years at the moment as he took his glasses off to rub his eyes.

"What illusion charm Albus..." The headmaster for his part gave the half goblin another condescending smile,

"Well what she did in the great hall of course," Severus was beside himself, really, she openly (and rather foolishly in his opinion but she _was_ eleven) displayed the focusing power of a High Lady and he thought it was a bloody illusion? He mulled that over a moment and decided to take a page out of Sirius' book and simply roll with it,

"We'll look into it headmaster, I'm sure her prat of a father left her notes or the like," yes, play up the hatred for James, it seemed to appease Albus but the other heads of house gave him appraising glances, likely due to the lack of vitriol. The meeting adjourned for the time being accomplishing absolutely nothing other then postponing meeting their new first years until tomorrow, heading for the dungeons Severus shook his head in disgust sending his long ponytail wagging.

Minerva McGonogall was many many things but stupid was not one of them, she realized something was going on with her great-grandniece the moment she met her eyes before the castles gates. her entire demeanor was that of someone playing a part, not that of a carefree youngster just being introduced to the world of magic, and her instincts told her Severus knew something about it. So using her half century of knowledge of the school she used several hidden passages to make her way down to the dungeons before him, shifting to her cat form she crawled through one of the many air exchange slits cut through the castles walls until she had a view of the Potions Master's office.

Sitting on his desk poking through a dish of nuts was a small juvenile raven, cocking her feline head to the side she had to admit confusion, Severus was not one for pets. After a few minutes the man in question entered the room and locked the door, she had to truly restrain herself when the raven shifted into a grinning little girl sitting cross legged on the desk. Severus rather than acting surprised smirked at the child,

"Lillith I'll have you know you've caused all sorts of trouble for me tonight," the child, her family by blood frowned,

"Did I get you in trouble with the old bastard Daddy?" Daddy...DADDY?! What the hell?! Severus shook his head and sat in his chair, he was promptly pounced on by the little girl who curled up in his lap, he called for a house elf to bring her some hot chocolate and once done he began stroking her hair as she happily downed the beverage.

"No dear, he was trying to convince everyone how the Dursley's were caring people who had your best interests at heart." The little girl stiffened, the room stilled and she distinctly felt the temperature drop significantly, Lillith's eyes seemed to darken as a frown creased her smooth brow,

"How the hell is getting abused and violated in my best interest?" She asked coldly, Minerva felt her heart seize, violated? What? Her little niece was abused by the family she'd allowed that old fool leave her with? Minerva felt her world view begin to crack as Severus sighed,

"Honey," he began as he pulled her into a hug that she melted into, "I don't think he's even aware that the Dursley's are long dead, I honestly walked away from the meeting with more questions then when I entered that office, rest assured though the old fool still has no idea you're no longer with them." Lilly let out a mirthless laugh,

"No doubt, if he knew his weaponized little girl was being raised to think for herself I'm sure he'd have an aneurysm..." they sat in silence for a few minutes as she remained curled on the professors lap, eventually she sighed in contentment and the room warmed again. "I cowed most of the snakepit into submission, they won't be touching Hermione or Draco, I also made a new friend, Blaise Zabini." Severus twitched an eyebrow up at that,

"The son of the 'Black Widow'? Brave of you little one," she snorted and smacked his head very lightly in a playful manner,

"Don't be a prat daddy he's quite nice, anyway dominance is established for the time being, how much leeway do I have?" At this point he picked her up and placed her on the desk so he could pace around a bit,

"Oh quite a bit, he's convinced you focusing your magical core was some sort of illusion charm," Minerva was glad her cat form couldn't laugh because the offended look the child sported at that was priceless.

"Ill...Illusion charm?! I...grrr...UGGHH! That man!" Chuckling at his daughters indignation he stroked her hair a few times before patting her shoulder,

"Get some sleep dear, do you need escorted back to the dorms?" She nodded as she hopped off the desk finished her cocoa and placing the mug down,

"Yeah your prefects forced me to come here, apparently hanging out with my dad is a severe punishment," he laughed, Severus _laughed_ at this,

"Give it a few years and I'm sure you will view it that way, come along than tomorrow may be the weekend but I'm sure you'll have a full day." As they were leaving the room Minerva caught the last bit of their conversation,

"Oh right I met this adorkable boy on the train, Neville Longbottom, apparently his grandmother is forcing him to use his dads wand despite it being mismatched, can we take him to Diagon Alley tomorrow?" She didn't hear Severus' response but she really didn't need to, padding back to her own chambers the aged deputy headmistress let out a vexed sigh as she retook her human form. There was much _much_ more going on then met the eye and she was going to demand some answers soon.

The next morning Lilly awoke in her four poster bed groggily rubbing her eyes, sitting upright she removed the silencing and sealing enchants from her curtains and swung her feet out onto the floor. Stretching and yawning while scratching her belly in a very ladylike fashion (i.e. not even bothering) she hopped up and checked the small wolf shaped alarm clock her Aunt Bella had made her for her ninth birthday. Aunt Bella was always making neat inventions, this one in particular would show the lunar cycle and had a measuring system to see how grouchy Uncle Moony would be on that particular day, it was an odd little knik knak but so was her favorite aunt. Seeing that it was six on a Saturday Lilly took it for granted that she'd have no fight over the dormitory washroom, gathering her toiletries she padded past the other three beds in the room making sure not to awake her dorm mates.

In the end there were six other girls in her year not counting Hermione, the room they'd claimed was shared by Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davies both from dark gray families who had remained staunchly neutral in the last war. It really worked out for her since their families leaned more towards Grindelwald's philosophy rather than Voldemort's (as far as she was concerned Tom and Voldy were separate entities) which was muggle-born's were a gift that should not be taken for granted and brought into their world with open arms. If that required conquering the muggle world well, so be it, Empress Lillith Slytherin had a bit of a ring to it anyhow, musing on the pros and cons of all out war she tossed her pajamas aside and turned on the shower. Waiting for it to heat up she quickly brushed her teeth and combed the tangles out of her long hair, hopping in the shower she absently began singing '_We Will Rock You' _to Tom's amusement, he thought it was rather cute how she picked up some of his quirks.

After luxuriating under the heat for a bit longer then necessary she hit herself with some drying charms and threw on a dressing robe, reentering her dorm she sifted through her clothes until she found her favorite full length skirt, sliding the black garment on she chose a navy blue blouse to go with it. Throwing on some socks and slipping into her flats she walked out of the dorm absently twirling her wand whistling the Imperial March, Tom teasingly asked her why she was in such a particularly militant mood this morning but she really didn't have an answer for him. Entering the common room she began her first thorough investigation of the open space chamber, the snake motif was admittedly quite overdone, and while green was her favorite color there was such a thing as too much of a good thing.

The room had three hearths, each with a wide chute above them leading to the surface, plush rugs covered the floors aside for a meter around said hearths and the walls were lined with various couches, love-seats, and large overstuffed chairs. The wall directly opposite from the entrance door was covered in bookshelves housing some rather questionably legal tomes, Hermione was going to squee when she fully realized what they had available to them, browsing the books she barked out a laugh when one caught her eye. Taking down 'So you want to be a Dark Lord? The ins and outs of playing the Ministry,' she curled up cross legged on one of the chairs and began reading, eventually other students began filtering in almost all of them eyeing her suspiciously which was to be expected honestly. Ignoring her future minions for the time being Lilly focused on the rather humorously written how to guide, the author had a quirky sense of humor as he went into detail on how best to collect blackmail material on ministry officials, after a time she heard a cough and glanced up to see her pet Malfoy standing before her.

"Morning Draco, how are you doing on this fine Saturday?" Smiling in return he shrugged a bit, he was wearing a pair of slacks and a white button down with a blue tie and thankfully had forgone the hair gel, he was far cuter with his hair down.

"It's turning out to be rather...interesting, no one quite knows what to make of you and in return us, I'm shocked you left Hermione on her own truth be told," she shrugged at that as she stuck a scrap of parchment into the book to mark her place.

"I can't hold her hand for the next seven years and she's far from incapable of taking care of herself, she has after all been receiving training from Aunt's Bella, Andi, and Cissy for the past year, Uncle Sirius and Moony too when they aren't being dragged off to the Wizengamot for that weeks catastrophe in the making. She'll be fine, and if she is in trouble the castle will warn me, being a founders heir has its perks after all." He nodded at that but refrained from replying as Blaise approached them, nodding to the dark skinned Italian Draco stepped aside so Lilly could get to her feet, standing up she grinned at the boy and gave him a lazy wave.

"Morning Blaise, once Hermione gets down here feel up to breaking your fast with us?" He returned the smile and nodded without verbally replying, she noted that he'd gone with the school uniform for today but hadn't bothered with the robes, after a few minutes her best friend finally made her appearance, like Lilly she was dressed in a simple skirt and blouse though she'd gone with white and lavender.

"Morning Lilly, boys, ready?" Nodding to the brunette the she led her little group up several flights of stairs, Draco kept shooting her odd looks as if trying to figure out a puzzle, as they were approaching the Great Hall he said,

"Ah ha, that's whats different, you didn't cover your scar with makeup today," shooting him a knowing grin she nodded in return,

"Yup, figure I'm going to go without a few times a month to make it clear I'm," she sighed deeply and made finger quotes, "The-Girl-Who-Lived' and I'm in fact quite happy not being a Gryffindor, now will the sheep pick up on it? I have no idea, but it doesn't take any extra effort on my part so why not." The other three nodded in understanding as they sat at their table, the other Slytherin's gave them wary looks but soon returned to their own meals as the quartet cheerfully bantered with each other.

Blaise noted how Lilly and Hermione were quick to finish each other's sentences and they'd occasionally gang up on Draco, but the second it would have been too much for the boy they'd pull back giggling causing the blonde to blush and than the cycle would repeat. They brought Blaise into the conversation when he showed interest but largely respected his silence, it was...a new experience for the boy, usually in both the Italian and British upper circles he was forced to interact regardless. Being given a choice and having it taken into active consideration by his peers was...nice, he liked it a lot; Lilly had made some off color comment about blood purity equating to flammability causing poor Draco to sputter when they were addressed by their head of house.

"Potter, Granger, Zabini, Malfoy, your schedules for this term," thanking the Professor Blaise allowed his eyes to widen a bit when Lilly groaned in despair, he noticed Professor Snape gave her an ever so slight smirk at her antics, "Is there a problem Miss Potter?" She began rubbing her temples furiously,

"We have potions with the Gryffindor's, the one topic that is an exact science and art, were one stir in the wrong direction can change a healing salve into a _bomb_ and we have to share it with the rudding house of the brain dead." Draco snickered at that while Hermione patted her back with a knowing look of shared pain on her face, the Professor for his part snorted,

"Quite, the Headmaster has this ongoing ideal that if he keeps forcing the two houses together they will eventually end centuries of rivalry, it could be worse though Hufflepuffs go through more cauldrons a month then the Lions do in a year." Lilly shuddered a bit at that and bade the professor fare well, as she began poking around her food Blaise met Hermione's gaze with a questioning look, she smirking a bit and rolled her eyes.

"Potions is Lilly's favorite subject next to Defense Against the Dark Arts, she's just a bit miffed that she'll have to actively avoid sabotage and idiocy in a subject that usually puts her in a Zen state." Titling his head a fraction he asked,

"Zen?" She smiled and took a sip of her juice before replying,

"A state of complete peace and contentment, and after the death glares she was getting from them at the sorting I wouldn't be shocked if we got to see a full Lilly meltdown before the end of the year," rather then disagreeing Lilly sharply nodded once her agreement to the statement quite clear. After the meal Lilly excused herself and made her way to the Gryffindor table, gaping he turned to the girls friends who both smirked, before anything could be said Draco just titled his goblet towards the girls back.

"Don't mind her, she's networking," as Lilly approached the Gryff's table the hall went into silence as she gracelessly plopped down next to Neville who was eating alone looking a bit miserable, before any of the glaring Lion's could say anything she chirped out,

"Heyya Nev, congrat's on getting into the house you wanted, told you you were brave enough to make the cut," turning to face down the rest of the now confused table she raised her voice while waving, "Fred, George, looking sharp! Exactly how many ties do you two own?" Grinning in return the twins nodded and replied as one,

"Wouldn't you like to know," snorting in amusement she turned back to Neville as the Lions tried to process this strange interaction, she didn't have much hope that their collective could reach consensus anytime soon so she took a page from Uncle Lucius and simply ignored their existence.

"So I talked to Professor Snape and he'll be taking us to Diagon Alley after breakfast to get you your own wand, I suggest you keep the hand-me-down your gran forced on you so she's none the wiser when you go home for the holidays." As observant as she tended to be Lilly hadn't noticed that several of the Gryffindor's were listening in on their conversation,

"Th-thanks, I was kind of worried you'd change your mind with the whole...you know, Slytherin and Gryffindor thing," she snorted at this while rolling her eyes,

"Nev for crying out loud if Slytherin and Gryffindor never got along how in Morgana's name did they work together to build this school? I made you a promise and I befriended you on the train I'm not going to abandon you because we're color coded now." That got a bit of a laugh out of the Longbottom heir, he scratched his head a bit before admitting the next part,

"The thing is, I can't rightly pay for the wand, I have money obviously but when gran gets the statement well..." smirking Lilly placed a small leather pouch in front of him,

"Don't worry about the money, I'm the heiress of three rudding Noble and Most Ancient houses, even with just the trust vaults I have more money then I know what to do with and if that means helping friends with essential school supplies well, so be it." She lifted her hand to stall his denial, "And, if you refuse to accept it as a gift I'll take it on your word that you'll pay me back once you reach your age of majority, no debts or any of that tripe, I just want to help." Smiling at her with growing affection Neville gently picked of the pouch and rolled it in the palm of his hand,

"Thanks Lilly I...this means a lot to me," winking she stood and gave him a brief curtsy,

"When you're ready to head to the Alley meet me at the Slytherin table all right? Take care!" With that she gave him a jaunty wave and walked back across the hall, before he could return to his meal Ron snapped out,

"I can't believe you're talking to that slimy snake, she's a traitor that's what she is! Why I bet her parents are rolling in their graves knowing that they died for a bloody Slytherin, wh-" he was cut off by Neville grabbing his tie and pulling him in close, glaring at the startled boy Neville asked,

"Ronald?" Sputtering the redhead finally got out,

"Wh-what?" Grinning in the manner his gran did when she had to deal with solicitors he only let it widen as the boy paled,

"Shut it."

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**I love Neville, expect him to develop a big brother bond with Lilly very soon, Harry ignored the poor bloke for years and he turned into a badass, what happens when that spark is properly cultivated by the scheming Lillith?**


	8. Who ya gonna call?

**So I stand corrected, the first week was much like the first day, it took way more time to get through it than I anticipated, don't worry I plan on burning through first year fairly quickly, and just as an aside so you all know it beforehand while 'A Black Halloween" will have a massive plot bomb in second year and largely ignore third 'The Lady of Slytherin' will be the direct opposite, outside of Lockheart, thats...not something I'm looking forward to writing but it's necessary for the Dark Lady. Anyway I'm sorry it isn't what was promised I just hope it holds up to your standards, enjoy and REVIEW!**

**Oh, a bit more humor in this one just because Lilly is cleaning house and she relies on unconventional people, I hope you all forgive that I have a hard time torturing little girls, (see what I did there? Can't disagree without looking like a creeper, I win!)**

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It was at lunch time that a chattering Lillith and slightly bemused Neville returned to the great hall, the unicorn hair cherry wand slowly spinning between his fingers as Lilly gushed at him her enthusiasm causing him to blush a bit as students looked their way.

"It's so cool that you got a thirteen incher, as phalic as that may sound, the arthimatic equations alone dictate you have great potential just by that alone! Now remember you have to keep the thing polished and in good care they're semi sentient so they get a bit pissy if neglected, the fact that it literally flew off the shelf at you implies a deep bond, so cool!" Still blushing Lilly bade him farewell and he returned to his own table as she skipped over to the Slytherin's unceremoniously shoving herself between Blaise and Hermione.

"Lillith," Blaise acknowledged with a smile, Lilly grinned at him and nodded as Draco and Hermione also greeted her, she began throwing together a sandwich when Hermione cleared her throat to get her attention. Looking up she met the warm brown eyes of her best friend and cocked her head to the side, the brunette than spoke in low tones,

"What was all that with Neville, I know you wanted to get him in your pocket but you seemed more enthused than necessary," smirking Lilly took a bite out of her ham and tomato sandwich. After chewing a bit she swallowed than replied,

"It ends up Neville is my godbrother, his mum was my godmother and my mum was his, we got to talking and it ends up we're also cousins by blood rather than marriage, it's kind of cute that he's suddenly being a bit protective of me. So I have to keep an eye out for him, no one hurts my family...no one." With that she tore into the rest of her sandwich with gusto then chased it with a goblet of juice before blanching, "Freaking pumpkin juice...haven't these people heard of apples? Ugh..."

As the weekend sped by and her house warmed to her slightly Lilly had her first class in the magical world, it ended up each period was a combined course with one of the other houses and more often than not Slytherin was paired with Gryffindor. Now, her Maruader side, the one that enjoyed a bit of chaos found this amusing, the part of her that was a brutally pragmatic Dark Lady in the making found it very trying.

As they followed Professor Sprout's instructions on dealing with the weeds from hell a few things became apparent, as intelligent and cunning as Draco and Blaise were, plants trumped them, and as awkward as Neville could be he was born with a green thumb. So breaking off from the other snakes she partenered up with her god brother and the small blonde girl working with him, after a time the bespectacled Gryffindor cleared her throat and addressed Lilly.

"So, I have to ask, why is it that everyone seems to hold so much reverence for you?" Staring the girl down a moment Lilly shrugged than clarified if the girl was muggle-born or not, getting an affirmative she then explained the wizarding wars and her supposed part in it; after she finished the blonde remained quiet as they continued to prepare the planting bed. After a time she asked,

"So let me get this straight, wizard Hitler apprenticed wizard Stalin to himself during World War II, wizard Hitler was than defeated by a guy who was a combination Wizard Churchill and Nelson who also happens to be our Headmaster. Than wizard Stalin tries to start a genocidal revolution and ends up dying after murdering your parents and now everyone thinks you're wizard Jesus and they haven't grasped the fact you resent it yet?" Lillith stared at her blankly for a few seconds than promptly fell on her backside laughing, the rest of the class watched her in confusion as she completely lost control of her facilities.

After a time she pulled herself together and a concerned Draco and Hermione made their way to their friend and helped her back to her feet, still giggling she offered her hand to the blonde girl,

"You I like, I'm Lillith Dorea Potter, but please call me Lilly," the blonde shook the offered hand while smiling in return,

"Sally-Anne Perks, please just call me Sally," with that they finished their project with Neville and went their own ways promising to keep in touch, Lilly's afternoon class ended up being History of Magic with the Ravenclaws and it was soon to be a proven waste of time. Lilly listened to Binns drone on for roughly twenty minutes before she let out an ear piercing screech. As her startled classmates watched her bug-eyed she jammed her books back into her bag and threw it over her shoulder, she marched out leaving the bewildered class behind.

Making her way up to the owlery she greeted Hedwig who affectionately nipped at her ear, Lilly quickly wrote several notes to the Board of Governors and one to her Aunt Bella,

"_Dearest Auntie Bella, _

_I hope this Letter finds you well, my first few days at Hogwarts have been memorable if nothing else, the problem I am running into is that the Headmaster has seen it fit to allow a ghost of all things to teach a class on history. I am as aware as you are of how lax things are in the magical world so I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how to exorcise the good Professor because the very idea of spending the next seven years with him 'Teaching' sends me into fits of despair._

_ Yours Truly,_

_ Lilly Potter_

_P.S. If I don't hear from you within the week I'm burning the school down."_

Letters finished she gave them to her stalwart companion and she took off into the skies, after cleaning the ink from her hands she hit the library to grab the books on the subject they were _supposed_ to be covering that day and crashed in the Slytherin common room. That's how her classmates found her an hour and a half later, most of the first years surrounded her and just stared at the girl who was busily scribbling notes on parchment, after an uncomfortable silence a dark haired boy spoke up.

"What, was that all about? You cost us five points you know," not looking up Lilly kept on scribbling as she responded,

"This schools fixation on a paperweight that signifies nothing more than an arbitrary desire to please ones teachers is honestly a rather enlightening indicator of what is inherently broken in our society." The children around her shared looks of confusion when Tom sighed out,

_"Lilly, love, you can't just assume these kids are going to grasp what you're getting at, just hit them with the blunt stick and move on before they do something stupid, like try to provoke you._" Humming to the voice in her head she met the boys gaze,

"Name?" He had a ...well she'd call it a constipated look on his face when he replied,

"Theodore Nott," nodding she dipped her quill back in its ink pot and continued with her history notes,

"I wrote several letters to the Board of Governors and the Minister of Magic to get Binns sacked, there is no way a ghost is qualified to teach us up to OWL much less NEWT standards, and if that fails I'm going to exorcise him, I'm paying a premium to go to this school so I refuse to waste my time and money on a sleep period." Now completely ignoring her classmates (outside of her three friends who all looked amused) she continued writing her notes before huffing. Looking back up at the group she groused, "What?!" A pair of redheaded twin girls stepped forward, the Carrow's if she remembered correctly, one of them spoke up,

"So you left because you found the teaching wanting?" Looking at the serious faced girls a moment she nodded,

"Yeah, I than hit the library and grabbed the books that we were supposed to be covering in the syllabus," the sisters shared a look and in unison stated,

"Thank Merlin," and promptly plopped down on either side of her, exchanging a bemused look with Hermione she than met the gaze of both twins,

"Just call me Lilly, err, you two are?" The original speaker blushed a bit,

"I'm Hestia," her sister nodded as she replied,

"Flora," grinning at the sisters as Blaise, Draco, and Hermione sat down with them she pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment,

"Well, I think we can all agree that Goblin rebellions in the seventh century will not be on the OWL's so how about we dig into how their economic manipulations led to the colonies getting a Gringotts loan in 1776 after declaring their independence?" Lilly was exstatic, it ended up that the Carrow twins were similar to their Weasley counterparts, but rather than pranksters they were bibliophiles like Hermione but with all the knowledge of those raised in a pure-blood household.

So the group penned notes on what was actually going to be on the end of term exams and eventually Lilly followed the Carrow's to dinner and got into a rather in depth conversation with the pair on wizarding politics. It honestly amused both Tom and herself how quickly others followed their lead, but at least those they acquired early on would be more inclined to carry on with their plans to their eventual ends. Tuesday brought more Herbology with the Lions, Sally and Nev brought cupcakes so they munched on the chocolaty goodness as they mulled over the best way to cultivate devils snare, none of the trio actually _wanted_ to be anywhere near the strangling vines but they weren't exactly given a choice.

Defense Against the Dark Arts had them paired with the Hufflepuff's, this was the class Lilly was looking forward to more than anything, and she was quickly shown that her expectations were far higher than Hogwarts could support. She'd shared a desk with another fair faced redhead, one Susan Bones who Lilly was quite inclined to make friends with since her guardian was the head of the DMLE and she wanted to follow in her footsteps. The other snakes might make noise about the decision but having a friend with the bobbies could only benefit her and her minions when she began her insurrection.

Unfortunately as things ended up Professor Quirrell was in short, useless, his stuttering proved to be so bad that even Hermione couldn't keep notes, it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, not to mention the minor headache she picked up from just being in his general vicinity. On their way back to their dorms the Slytherin quartet remained silent before Blaise snapped out,

"Is it just me or has this entire school proven to be completely worthless so far?" Draco sighed as he swept a hand through his hair,

"You're not wrong, Father's been saying that the course work has gone down hill since Dumbledore took over, we've had two days of classes so far and all I've learned is that Devils's Snare doesn't like light. I mean really, how is that even remotely helpful?" The others 'hmm'd' in agreement before they retired for the evening. Wednesday brought more herbology,

_"What the hell is with this schools obsession with herbology?!"_ She seethed to Tom who actually had nothing to add since he was in complete agreement, after basically wasting two hours gossiping with Hermione, Neville, and Sally they once again went their separate ways. Astronomy went as could be expected, they looked at stars, they wrote out charts, they got very cold, and they went to bed, thus far the only thing she could say about Hogwarts was that it was a bloody disappointment.

Thursday proved her wrong though, it ended up that not only was Professor Flitwick adorably funsize he was also a Dueling Master, and while he was a bit over excitable she found out after class that he was just startled how much she looked like her mother. After getting a promise from him that he'd tell her anything he could about her mum she met up with her friends in the transfiguration classroom, as she entered there was a cool eyed tabby cat survaying the room.

Her instincts, which were becoming more avian inclined every time she took her raven form were screaming at her to run but she told them to shove off. Taking a seat next to Hermione she ignored the cat as she began writing her class outline on a blank parchment, glancing at her schedule she realized that once again she was going to be paired with the Gryffindorks. Grimacing and silently hoping if there was group work she'd get stuck with Neville or Sally she was startled to see the cat morph into Professor McGonogall, the animagus looked about the room cooly and than gave the late arriving Ron Weasley detention, thus far coming to class had been worth it.

After turning a match into a needle, a feat reached by herself, the Carrow twins, Hermione, and Blaise the class ended, that afternoon they met up for their flying course. It was mostly an anticlimactic event, Neville had a bit of a bucking issue with his broom but it didn't do much outside of being annoying for the poor boy. A Slytherin girl she'd largely ignored, one Pansy Parkinson tried mocking him but death glares from the cowardly Lions and half the Snakes shut the cow up quickly, silently putting the girl on her shit list Lilly got to flying. After enjoying a leisurely flight around the Quiditch pitch Lilly made it back to the common room to ditch her school books and went to dinner. Near the end of the meal Hedwig landed before her, handing a plate of greasy bangers over to the owl she read the offered letter,

"_Dearest Little Viper,_

_Don't do anything stupid, we've got this._

_ Love Always,_

_ Auntie Bella"_

Grinning Lilly dug into her dinner with the gusto. Friday proved to be worth the wait, she'd clued her Gryffindor friends in on what to expect in the Potions classroom and how best to react, Neville paired off with Hermione and Lilly hooked up with Sally, Blaise quickly took a seat next to another dark skinned boy, Dean something or other. Draco's face fell into a look of horror then firmed itself into resolve when he realized the only seat left was next to Ronald, Lilly honestly didn't know which boy to feel worse for. With the final bell ringing the door to the room slammed open and her dad swept in, she really needed to get him to teach her the charms he put on his cloak, every time she asked he just smirked and said 'Trade Secret.'

He gave his usual speech which seemed to terrify and or intrigue most of the class, Lilly was just waiting to get started since she'd have to give Sally the ins and out of brewing so the poor girl didn't level the room like a Hufflepuff. Dad threw out a few rather advanced questions at random but they proved a point to those paying attention, any who had positively associated with Lillith were given positive advice on how to find the answers in the future, everyone else lost points. Lilly and Tom grimly smiled as her Cult of Personality formed about her, it truly was good to be the Queen and soon her minions would rely more and more on her,

_"I have to admit little one, while I began recruiting at Hogwarts it wasn't until well into my seventh year, you've beaten me quite spectacularly by achieving so much your first week,"_ grinning down into her cauldron she replied,

_"It's...easy, everyone has expectations for me, either meeting them or breaking them with specific parties endears myself to them, honestly Tom people are like instruments waiting to be played, the trick is finding all the fellow conductors and getting them on your side so they don't acquire them for their own orchastra's."_ Tom was silent for a moment and quietly muttered,

_"Where were you thirty years ago my dear Dark Lady..."_ Blushing deeply she threw herself into brewing the potion trying to hide how pleased that statement made her, she gently stopped Sally as she who was in mid motion.

"No no, porcupine quills have to be added off the flame," Sally looked abashed at that as she turned the heater down,

"Sorry, I was looking at it like cooking and it didn't even register, going to have to break myself from that," Lilly nodded as she tossed the quills in and began stirring.

"Good way to look at brewing honestly just pay attention to the directions and you'll be fine, I'm actually an apprenticed potioneer so this is pretty much remedial work for me, if you have _any_ questions please ask, I'd rather not see my friends get hurt when I can prevent it." Smiling winningly at the ravenette Sally nodded quickly, as class continued on Lilly heard a clattering behind her. Turning around she saw an ashen faced Draco starring at the cauldron in front of Ren...no Ron as a pulsing acid green fluid began to bubble out of it, she barely managed to yell,

"GET DOWN!" As she grabbed Sally and the cauldron tipped over exploding towards the pair, Lilly for reasons she nor Tom could fully understand pulled the muggle-born girl to herself and took the brunt of the searing liquid to her back. This was pure pain, something akin to the cruciatus and while she could push her way through that there was just something about your flesh cooking off your back as it grew snitch sized boils that made one forget about such lessons, her screams of agony probably woke the dead.

As far as her shocked brain could interpret what was going on she'd fallen on the blonde girl who was staring up at her in wonder and horror, dad rushed over bellowing at Ron (good) and for Hermione to get the school nurse, as she began to black out she dimly agreed with her dads yearly rants; eleven year olds really shouldn't be allowed anywhere near cauldron.

She woke up to a dimly lit room that smelled like antiseptics, cracking her eyes fully open she realized she'd been set up in the hospital wing, much to her surprise there were several sleeping figures surrounding the bed, directly to her right were Sally and Neville who were leaning against each other effectively keeping themselves propped up. To her left Hermione and Draco were both leaning on the bed their heads resting in crossed arms, it was fairly obvious they'd been crying, at the foot sitting directly on the bed was a cross legged Blaise also asleep slumped forward snoring gently. Smiling a bit and getting a weird fuzzy feeling in her chest she decided then and there that these five were not minions, they were her equals and she'd do her best to keep them from dying in the coming revolution, shifting back into the blankets Lilly let sleep take her over again, she'd not embarrass her friends by letting them know she'd seen them so vulnerable.

When she awoke in the morning none of her friends were there but that was fine, she just assumed the matron had kicked them out, she knew they'd been there for her and that was all that mattered, eventually said medi-witch babied her and chided her for doing something so dangerous but also conveying the pride she had in the small girl for protecting her fellow students. Lilly shrugged it off, she'd have to find a name for her growing core group of followers, they weren't minions so they deserved to be distinguished from them, she was released from the hospital wing in time for lunch, since it was the weekend she saw no reason to not go fill her grumbling belly.

As she meandered into the great hall she paused mid step as everyone, _everyone_ stopped mid conversation to stare at her, feeling a bit of heat creep up into her cheeks she dropped her head down and quickly made her way over to the Slytherin table and sat next to Draco who immediately threw an arm around her pulling her in close. She let him, she actually melted into it a bit, he smelled like clean soap, sandalwood and slight perspiration, she found she didn't mind the scent in the slightest,

"You had us so worried, please please please don't risk your well being for a Gryffindor again!" She let out a quick laugh at that as she met his gray eyes, there was very real concern there so she decided flippancy was out of the question, shooting her gaze to Hermione and Blaise she realized they were both thinking the same thing. Swallowing the knot that had suddenly formed in her throat she let her head fall on his shoulder and closed her eyes before replying,

"I couldn't let her get hurt like that Little Dragon, I don't know why I just...I just don't like seeing people I like getting hurt...what happened?" At that Blaise, _BLAISE_ growled out,

"Weasley happened, when Draco went to get more supplies the damn fool left the cauldron boiling while he was reading a quiditch magazine, Hermione saw it all," her bushy haired partner in conquest nodded quickly,

"Yes I was actually in the middle of walking over to Draco to warn him when well...boom happened..." Lilly chuckled a bit at that finally opening her eyes, she noticed Draco looked a bit flushed but ignored it,

"And here I thought boom was my friend, did he get in trouble?" There was a disgusted snort to her right, glancing over she noticed Hestia for the first time,

"Professor Snape tried to get the Weasel expelled for criminal negligence but the headmaster blocked it, hell even his brothers weren't protecting him they're all disgusted with his lack of care, potions are bloody dangerous every pure-blood knows that, the fact that he let a fellow student get hurt, much less _you..."_ She sighed as her twin sitting across from her continued, Flora sipped from her goblet as she rolled her eyes,

"As it stands you're in a very interesting position, the entire school respects you for protecting a fellow student, the pure-blood bigots are wondering on your priorities protecting a muggle-born but on that note they're not brave enough to speak it out loud considering the majority of the school is speaking your praises," Lilly...did not know how to process that, eventually she shrugged Draco's arm off and tucked into her lunch, she nodded to the twins than spoke so only their small group could hear her,

"Thanks...thanks for being there for me...I promise I won't do anything so stupid in the future, next time I'll remember I know shield charms..." the five Slytherin's she'd decided were worth her time all smiled at that, after a time Hedwig landed before her. The owl lifted her leg with a parcel and letter attached, removing them she let her feathered friend tear into her lunch as she read the letter,

"_Dearest Little Viper,_

_Pull the pin, throw the grenade, and rejoice!_

_Love Always,_

_Auntie Bella"_

Opening the package she saw a black ball with the Ghostbusters logo painted on it with a ringed pin sticking out of the top, grinning maliciously she had to practically stamp down the maniacal laughter that wanted to burst free, Binns would never see it coming. On Sunday Lilly made her way to the history department and padded through the dust caked reception room and its various disused halls, eventually she found the tarnished plaque displaying Binns name. Cracking the door the heavily rusted hinges creaked in protest but she was on a mission, iron oxide had nothing on her spectral homicide attempt, peaking through the crack she saw the glowing form of Professor Binns staring at his filth caked desk completely unaware of her presence.

Grinning to herself she pulled the pin on Auntie Bella's grenade and tossed it into the room, there was a *pop* and a ear searing cry of agony that dug past her flesh, muscle, bones and marrow, digging right into her soul, than it was gone. Peaking into the room she grinned grimly seeing the glowing blue fluid slopping down the walls, leaving as she had come she eventually found herself whistling a jaunty tune, if some of the muggle-born students wondered why she was so fond of a mid eighties comedy theme song staring Bill Murray well...who was she to ruin a good mystery?

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**Taking suggestions on Lilly's Dark Lady name and the her minions, throw it out there and I'll consider it, keeping in mind this is going to turn somewhat Gaelic with the religion like a lot my Potter works (sue me I'm Irish and am intrigued by the old faiths). Just lemme know at the end of your reviews or send PM's, we've got a bit of time before it all starts coalescing anyhow. **


	9. Now I am invisible, Ho Ho Ho

**I normally don't update so quickly but I had legitimate fun writing this one, I hope you all enjoy, also I think reviewer ****Amber Talamasca won out with the 'Unseelie Court', I'd considered it before but her reasoning sold me to it, if you all disagree let me know. As always, REVIEW!**

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It was Samhain, Lilly bloody hated Samhain, she was a practitioner of the old ways, the celebration of life, death, and rebirth was as much a part of her as it was her Aunt's of Black; the problem was it was also the night her parents were brutally murdered by her friend in her head. Tom always left her alone on Samhain, it was the one sticking point in their relationship and he preferred to not strain things, he felt bad enough for orphaning her as is after all. So for the one day a year she was truly alone she sulked, her friends tried to distract her but it didn't work, she appreciated the effort but well...what can you do?

So she sat alone atop the Astronomy tower with lit candles and a smoldering bowl of ritual herbs, she silently sent her prayers to her mother, father, and the forgotten dead, those who had no one to pray for them in the great beyond. When she was finished with her prayers she did her best to clear her mind but it was no use, telling a genius with an overactive imagination to not think was just a losing battle, so she decided to ruminate on recent events.

The past two months had been at the very least mildly interesting if nothing else, Binns *ahem* "disappearance" hadn't been noticed for nearly a week, when a thoroughly befuddled Dumbledore found out he scrambled to find a replacement but was beaten to the punch by the Board of Governors thanks to Lilly's rather scathing letter campaign. The look on his face when Narcissa Malfoy was made the new History of Magic professor held a very special place in Lilly's heart, right up there with murdering the Dursley's, her first real birthday party, and meeting Hermione.

Quirrell was proving to be a semi-decent teacher after evidence of Binns rather violent exorcism was found, he'd been eyeing Lilly warily since then making it fairly obvious he suspected her of taking matters into her own hands and feared the same treatment. That had been unplanned but not unwelcome but it severely limited what she could get away with for the time being, trying to not look suspicious while you were being _very _suspicious was just not worth the effort when under constant supervision.

Outside of those events nothing of real import had happened, sadly life was becoming rather...static, if she wasn't constantly plotting world domination and twisting the student populace to her will she'd probably have died from boredom at this point.

Huffing she stood and approached the edge of the tower, staring over the parapet she observed the setting sun and shivered a bit as a chill wind blew threw her woolen cloak sending her hair fluttering. Pulling a loose strand behind her ear she took a breath and began singing, it was her final offering to the dead and her personal lament towards the coming winter. Honestly her Gaelic was rather rough, Aunt Andi was the only family member who spoke it fluently so her conversation partners were rather limited, but she felt she did the ancient rite justice.

As her final notes closed and were carried away on the cold winds and darkening skies she jumped when she heard clapping behind her, turning around quickly and surreptitiously gripping her wand she was startled to see Professor Quirrell standing there looking at her oddly.

"Hello child, when I heard singing I came to see who the songstress was, you're quite talented, I'm just a bit shocked to see someone practicing the old ways especially with how cold it is out here at the moment," shrugging stiffly and nervously playing with a loose locke of hair she slowly met his eyes, they were an oddly familiar shade of blue, almost black.

"I always perform my rites outside, I have a rather...different relationship with Samhain than most," he nodded and walked up beside her staring out into the darkening forest,

"You would at that I suppose, if I may ask why perform your rites now rather than earlier in the day?" She gave him a wane smile and shrugged again,

"I find it's fitting to commune with the dead as the last light passes...and well to be honest the Great Hall offends me at the moment, it's insulting how...muggle it is right now." That earned her a curious look from the Professor who remained quiet for a time before responding,

"Not a fan of muggles are you?" She worried her lip a bit before deciding to speak her mind,

"Some of them are brilliant, some of them are amazing decent people, some of them are no better then animals and deserve to die, much like any group of wizards you'll find in our community...what I don't appreciate is their culture subverting ours. Our entire population barely teeters into the ten million mark, there are so few of us that if we continuously let the muggles overwrite our very essence...well.."

She gave him a sad smile before shaking her head, "Well...you get a bunch of witches and wizards dressing up in stupid costumes surrounded by oversize jack 'o' lanterns being supervised by a doddering old man who is ignoring the passing of what makes us _us_." She hadn't really planned on such a passionate little speech and was honestly now worried she said too much, to her surprise the Professor was smiling down at her,

"You're just full of surprises aren't you little one? Come come it's getting quite cold up here and while you find the decorations offensive you _do_ need to eat," nodding she gathered her things and gently put them away. Putting the package in her bag she pulled it up over her shoulders and followed the Professor down the stairs, wishing him farewell she first made her way down to the dungeons to ditch her things. Entering the empty common room she quickly went to her dorm and tossed her bag into her trunk, as she slammed it shut she hissed out the parseltongue password locking it down, another neat trick Tom taught her.

Whistling to herself quietly she left the Slytherin chambers behind and mulled over what to do tomorrow, tea with Hagrid sounded like it could be a bit of a lark, the giant of a man always had something interesting going on. She, Hermione, and Neville had been meeting with him regularly much to the surprise of her housemates, since apparently he was known to be firmly in Dumbledore's pocket. Funny thing that, subverting your opponents most loyal pawns was a very Slytherin thing to do why they didn't see it was beyond her, the fact that she actually loved his fascination with dangerous magical creatures was just a bonus.

As Lilly meandered down the halls her first indication something was off was the screaming, the second was the horrid stench of septic decay, she was very glad that her stomach was empty at the moment because she'd have thrown up otherwise. Quickening her pace she got around the corner just in time to see a blonde girl dive out of the way of a club strike courtesy of a bloody mountain troll of all the goddess be damned things, the blonde struggled to get to her feet as a redheaded girl quickly helped her up. The two of them ran towards Lillith with absolute horror writ on their faces, she recognized Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot immediately, she rather liked the two Hufflepuffs that were largely considered the sharpest in their house so their near deaths were rather distressing.

_"Knock knock Tom, wakey wakey, we've got work to do_" Tom stirred from the back of her mind and his immediate reaction of,

"_Bloody fucking hell!"_ Pretty much summed up her feelings rather succinctly,

"_Indeed, thoughts?"_ She calmly asked as the the three meter tall monstrosity charged towards the three girls, Susan was holding her wand in a white knuckled grip the snarl of pure rage on her face immediately putting her on the top of Lillith's acquisition list. She knew the look, she was furious at the troll for threatening her and outraged that she had the potential to destroy it but no knowledge to do so, thank you Hogwarts education system. Quickly making a decision she met Susan's eyes,

"Do you promise to trust me?" Her blue eyes showed fear and resolve, the redhead nodded quickly and that was all Lilly needed,

"CRUCIO!" She roared as she jabbed her wand at the charging troll, the creature bellowed in agony as it fell to the ground rolling to a stop, the curse had no chance of doing permanent damage to the magically resistant beast but it did slow it down. Shaking her head and trying to not black out from the power draw of the curse without her normal focusing she glanced at the shocked 'Puffs and continued speaking as if she hadn't just cast an unforgivable,

"Quick this is the reductor curse, full circle and jab, you need to envision an invisible force smashing something as you say 'reducto', as long as you visualize you can do it," turning back to the troll that was getting back onto its shaky feet Tom whispered,

"_Go for the knees, groin, and wrists, they're its only weak points outside of bludgeoning the damn thing senseless,"_ nodding absently she cast a reducto at its knees earning her an angry growl, damn thing was practically made of steel. Susan and Hannah were panicking but after a few failed attempts they actually managed to cast the reductor, suitably impressed with her year mates the trio of now armed and pissed off witches began pummeling the increasingly hesitant troll with the powerful curse.

She had no idea how long they were at it but as they forced the troll into a corner a red spell that looked like an overpowered stunner from hell hit it in the head sending the odorous thing to the ground with a heavy thud. The three girls were panting from the exertion of casting so many spells in such a short time, as they exchanged looks an understanding seemed to have been made between them, hopefully. Turning to see who had finally put the troll down they were surprised to see Professor Sprout and most of the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs standing at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Great Hall, the entire group was eyeing the girls with surprise and respect.

Lilly was honestly terrified the 'puffs would crack and tell their head of house that she'd cast an unforgivable sending her straight to Azkaban, and while she really shouldn't let her mouth go off without asking her brain for permission first her adrenaline shot nerves bypassed this safety.

"So...I guess we missed dinner huh?" Hannah and Susan looked at her wide eyed than at once broke down into hysterical giggles, Lilly soon followed, Professor Sprout than sent the students to their dorms though her trio of Slytherin friends had to be cajoled to leave her there. The professor, bless her patient heart let the girls work the nervous laughs out of their systems and eventually Susan took the lead and explained how she and Hannah had gone to dinner late due to homework. She clarified that they ran headfirst into Lilly and than Susan made her position as Lillith's favorite redhead permanent by explaining how the ravenette had tripped the troll up with a reductor curse and had given the pair of 'puffs a crash course on how to cast it themselves.

Ten minutes, thirty points to Slytherin and Hufflepuff and a visit to the hospital wing later and Lilly finally got a word alone with the girls,

"Thanks, I...I'm really thankful you didn't turn me in for that," Susan and Hannah exchanged looks then nodded to each other, Hannah spoke first,

"I'm...not comfortable you know that curse, but if you didn't there is a good chance we'd be dead, I'm not going to throw you under the wagon because you decided to save our lives," Susan nodded at this quickly whilst twirling her wand and worrying her lip. Eventually she sighed and met Lilly's eyes,

"My auntie has told me how during the war they were allowed to use the unforgivables, even the playing field her boss had called it, as far as I'm concerned you used the resources at hand and...well...I'm alive, _we're_ alive, so no need to thank us, we should be thanking you." Smiling in return they sat in comfortable silence until Madam Pomfrey gave them a once over and released them, as they stood to leave Hannah walked up to her and fiddled around with a silver chain around her neck, taking it off Lilly could see it had a large crystal hanging from it.

Fidgeting a bit the blonde stared at the violet piece of rough crystal a moment and than nodded as if coming to a decision,

"This...this is a fey crystal, my mother found it in Ireland years ago in an old fairy mound, it had been long abandoned but some artefakts remained, I...I want you to have it." Touched Lilly was going to refuse the gift but the small blonde shook her head stubbornly, "No, you saved my life, it's the least I can do, so please take it." Smiling Lilly opened her hand and gasped as the crystal began to glow dimly in her palm, the other two girls were not far behind. Susan eyed her with new found respect as she whispered,

"Those...fey crystals only react like that to those with fey blood...there's only one line in all the isles that can claim that, and to have a reaction like this..." Lilly swallowed hard and nodded slowly,

"So...It would appear I'm related to Morgana le Fey..." this certainly helped explain her animagus form, Tom was giddily cackling in her minds background so apparently he was quite pleased with this turn of events. Palming the necklace she pulled the chain over her head and shoved the crystal under her robes, smiling she pulled both 'puffs into a crushing hug, "Thank you." With that they were escorted back down to the dungeons, someone had apparently carted the troll off at some point but its stench lingered, bidding the girls farewell Lilly hissed at the hidden door and trudged into the Slytherin common room.

She stopped short seeing the entirety of her house staring at her, unlike on her sorting night it wasn't a combination of terror and resentment, there was...respect, an older boy stepped forward, Alexander Nott if her memory served her correctly. Theodore's older brother stared at her a moment longer then broke the silence,

"That was some impressive casting out there Potter, you seemed a bit wiped out though for casting simple reductors," pride commeth before the fall and her mouth once again shot off before her mind could tell it to shut the hell up.

"You try casting the cruciatus on a bloody troll and see how perky you are afterwords, I swear the blasted thing barely felt it after the initial shock..." Lilly _felt_ the blood leave her face as she admitted this, and much...much to her shock this revelation caused most of the rooms occupants to grin at her.

"I see," Alexander said nodding slowly, "Well, if you'd like I can show you how to cast it on the fly, I know normally you have to find your focus to pull it off correctly and it is very draining otherwise but my father showed me some techniques that can limit the power draw." Quickly meeting Hermione's brilliant brown eyes the brunette tilted her head ever so slightly, turning back to Alexander Lilly smiled and nodded,

"I would appreciate that, when Auntie Bellatrix had me practicing on child molesters in Knockturn Alley it was a more...controlled setting." He smirked at that and she distinctly heard Draco snort and say,

"So that was you and Aunt Bella...figures...," Eventually the group broke up and everyone made their way to their respective dorms, assuring Blaise and Draco she was fine she followed Hermione into their room. Rather then getting into her own bed after changing her bookworm friend curled up with her and pulled the curtains closed, looking at the brunette oddly she was pulled into a tight hug.

"I was so worried we'd lost you, please Lilly, you're my first, best, most wonderful friend, don't get yourself killed until we're very old ladies surrounded by a ludicrous amount of cats," laughing Lilly pulled her friend close and sighed.

"I promise, and I'm sorry for scaring you, I really am, hey, wanna see something neat?" Hermione was a sponge for knowledge regardless of its source or purpose, she nodded quickly and so Lilly pulled out her fey crystal, "It ends up I'm likely a descendant of Morgana le Fey, who knew?" Hermione's eyes reached the size of saucers as she stared at the magical gem, after she gathered her wits she smirked and dug her head into the crook of Lilly's neck.

"Only you dear Lilly, only you, if I may suggest you should bring it up to Professor Malfoy tomorrow, I've the strangest feeling it comes from your Black side." Nodding in agreement she pulled her best friend closer and inhaled the scent of blackberries from her bushy hair, after a short silence the brunette spoke up,

"Lilly, you realize they think they're corrupting you, they think they're turning you to the dark by helping you cast unforgivables," Lilly chuckled a bit at that,

"I know, it's rather funny seeing the pawns prance about thinking they're the master of the game." Hermione let out a small laugh causing her to shake a bit, she than cocked her head slightly in amusement,

"Just thought I'd let you know," Lilly smiled in a self satisfied manner and sighed heavily into her friends hair,

"Good night 'Mione..." sighing sleepily the bookworm replied,

"Night Lilly..."

The following morning Lilly awoke to the calm breathing of her best friend, smiling down at Hermione she slowly broke their night long hug and threw the blankets over her friend, stretching she went through her morning rituals and called one of the house elves for a cup of tea an a several pieces of toast. Munching on her light breakfast the emerald eyed young heiress meandered up to the newly renovated history offices, one of the first things Auntie Cissy had done when appointed her new position was clean the horrid series of chambers. So entering the reception area she waved happily to the young wizard manning the desk and made her way to her Aunt's office, she tapped on the mahogany frame quickly with a knuckled fist then dug back into her toast. As the door began to creak slowly Lilly kicked it open in a rather unladylike fashion and plopped in the seat opposite of her blonde aunt who was smirking at her in amusement, Lilly silently offered her one of her pieces of toast and the Lady of Malfoy accepted it gracefully. After Lilly finished her breakfast and tea she grinned openly,

"So it ends up I have fairy blood," pulling the chain around her neck she let the faintly glowing fey crystal rest in her palm, "I was just wondering if it was from who I think it is..." Narcissa stared at the rough crystal a moment before shaking herself to focus, meeting Lilly's eyes her friends mother grinned widely,

"It would appear little one that you are Morgana's heiress, I suppose I should be surprised but I'm not...not at all,, where did you get the crystal?" Explaining everything that happened the night before the blonde woman shook her head slowly her smile never leaving her face, they sat in silence for a time before she spoke again. Clearing her throat she leaned forward meeting Lilly's emerald gaze with her cool silver, almost blue eyes still smirking, "You've been chosen by our founder to bring great things little one, I hope you can live up to it.

"I...I was chosen by our families founder...Morgana was the head of the Black?" If possible Aunt Cissy's grin grew wider as she sipped her tea,

"Well noticed my dear, and she has chosen you specifically, something tells me that little lump of rock will play a part in your near future, keep it close to yourself love, now why don't you clean up and head out to that foolish broom game?" Waving it off Lilly ignored the quiditch match to continue discussing her families origins with her aunt well into the afternoon, after being dismissed Lilly made her way back to the now raucous common room, unsurprisingly they had destroyed the Griffendorks. Curling up next to Draco and Blaise she didn't budge when they both threw an arm over her shoulders, Hermione sat at her feet and rested her head against her legs as she read a book. Grinning to herself she looked up at the stone ceiling, honestly it was the little things in life that made it worth living.

Later that evening she focused on the fey crystal in her hands, it had to serve a purpose but she just didn't know _what_ it was, eventually she let out several unladylike swears in Gaelic as she stared down at the lump of stone and crystal, much to her shock the amethyst crystal began shifting as it glowed in her palms. After a time a three inch long seven sided clean cut violet gem rested in her hands, it glowed brightly in the gloom of her sealed bed curtains, grinning widely she realized what the crystal was immediately and held the stone between her thumb and forefinger, the Potter heiress began cackling as she'd found the first piece to her own wand.

The following weeks quickly fell back into tedium, it was honestly a bother to even consider overthrowing the legitimate government when there was a meter of snow outside the gates, so bundled up to the point were she resembled her favorite silver screen yeti (you could not convince her Chewbacca was anything else) Lilly soon found herself viewing a list to stay behind for the holidays posted by the Deputy Headmistress. She'd already decided that she was going to stay at the castle since Draco and Hermione were so she quickly signed her name and kept walking, as Yule reared it's head the Potter heiress grinned wickedly, while Samhain had a rather large amount of baggage attached to it Yule did not. She awoke in her dorm to see her favorite bushy haired know-it-all carefully unwrapping presents, Lilly smirked when the brunette opened her gift, the copy of the Slytherin family grimmoire would leave her partner in crime in a tizzy for months.

Digging into her own gifts she found piles of candy from the Carrow twins, Susan, Hannah, Daphne, and Tracey, Blaise had sent her a rather fetching silver pin of a raven sitting atop a pile of books. Staring at it in awe she wondered if her Italian friend realized how much it would mean to her as she placed it it reverently on her bed, Hermione had sent her a pair of black and purple stripped stockings and an adorable dark blue jumper, she'd immediately dug out a black skirt to wear with the outfit. Neville and Sally had both sent her books on herbology and charm spells respectfully, the last gift was from Draco and it stilled her heart for a moment, '_For my favorite little fairy',_ was written on the wood box, she opened it slowly and gasped at what was inside.

Pulling the small silver chain from the box she stared at the charm dangling from it, rubbing her thumb over the raven in flight Lilly grinned as she slid the bracelet on, brushing past Hermione she ran into the common room where Draco was currently sipping on a cup of tea, landing in the blondes arms she held him close and kissed him on the cheek,

"Thank you little dragon, happy yule to you!" Her friend blushed deeply as he returned the hug running a finger down the dragon embroidered tie she'd bought him,

"Not a problem little fairy, not a problem at all," the rest of the winter hols was spent having snow ball fights with the Weasley twins and her friends, Ronald refused to participate because everyone immediately made him their target, outside of that she spent most of her time with Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucius as they had tea with Draco. Honestly it was ever so much fun, Aunt Cissy had Auntie Bella's screwed up sense of humor and Uncle Lucius' dry wit was just fun to be around, she knew within a couple days that Draco had gotten the best from both of them.

A week before classes resumed Lilly entered her dorm to find a gaily wrapped package sitting on the foot of her bed, intrigued she opened it to find herself holding a magnificent piece of cloth in her hands. It shimmered like the nights sky and felt as light and soft as silk, reading the small note telling her it was her fathers the grin on her face could have stopped wars in their tracks. This was the Marauder cloak, Uncle Moony and Padfoot had told her enough stories about it, which meant the old bastard had her family heirloom all these years. Running a quick series of diagnostic spells Lilly removed the various tracking charms from the cloak then threw it over her shoulders, approaching her wardrobe mirror she couldn't hold in her delighted cackle.

She had the Peverall invisibility cloak and no one else knew about it outside of one incompetent meddler, suddenly 'boredom' became a lost concept to one Lillith Dorea Potter.

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**Obviously Draco heard about the whole le Fey thing so he's going to start calling Lilly 'Little Fairy', it will both be endearing and annoying or her, anyway as always hope you enjoyed and PLEASE REVIEW!**


	10. Dragons and House Traitors

**Little Shorter than I'd have expected but honestly a lot of 'book' is cut down when you aren't dealing with Harry's forced ignorance, really without the mirror, tricking poor Hagrid, Slytherins and Gryffindors trying to one up each other and quiditch there just isn't much going on before the forest incident.**

***Sigh*, please bear with me this isn't going to be normal for this story I just had little to work with without going into 'Bleach' levels of pointless none plot effecting side stories, it's just too early in her career for that sort of thing to be pertinent...anyway take this chapter for what it is, a bridge between plotlines and a warm fuzzy father/daughter moment. Please review and have a great day.**

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Yule holiday was rolling to a close and Lilly still hadn't seen her dad, it had been rather trying on the two of them having to pretend to be no closer than a head of house and a first year student. Plus, much to Lilly's disgust her dad had to deal with the old bastard having the other professors keeping an eye on him in case he had any...unscrupulous thoughts towards his dead crushes daughter, the very idea offended him and infuriated her, but alas they were slaves to the whims of others...again. So it was with these disgruntled thoughts and silent death wishes towards a twinkly eyed old meddler that Lilly literally walked right into the resident Potions Master, as she fell backwards and landed on her bum with a squeak she glanced up to see her mildly amused father figure staring down at her. After a few moments he offered her a hand and as he pulled her up he leaned in and whispered,

"Did you receive your fathers cloak and do you have it on you?" Eyes widening she nodded towards Professor Snape quickly, smiling he quirked an eyebrow and walked away, taking the hint she pulled the overly large piece of fabric out and wrapped it around herself and quickly followed her dad. They were heading to the Gryffindor tower, she'd found it fairly easily despite it being "Hidden" thanks to Sally and Neville literally not caring in the slightest if she knew its location, eventually they made it up to the seventh floor. As she was observing a rather horrifying tapestry of some fool trying to get trolls to dance her dad paced back and forth three times and suddenly a pair of doors formed out of the wall, lifting her brows in interest she followed him through and started a bit as they slammed shut behind her.

He turned around and grinned widely, the genuine loving smile he reserved solely for her shined down like a beacon, he took a knee and pulled her into a hug holding her closely, a brief moment later her arms were wrapped around his neck.

"This. Sucks." She stated simply, he chuckled and nodded,

"True true, but it's only for another year or two, at that point Sirius and Lucius should have enough political clout that even Dumbledore couldn't take you away from your family," tearing up at the mention of family, her _real_ family she held her dad a bit closer. After a time he let her go and she finally gave the room a once over, the walls were lined in books and there was several comfortable looking chairs scattered about. In the center of the room were a pair of high stools and what looked like a couple electric guitars and a large amplifier, there were several stacks of books and sheet music on top of the amp as well as a few guitar picks.

Looking at the setup in confusion she turned to her dad who was smiling down at her fondly, "You do recall wanting to know more about your mother yes? Well, she and I both learned to play the guitar together, your grandfather, Lily's father, taught your mother how to play on that Les Paul, it was actually his before he gave it to her, oh the fit Petunia threw, bint didn't even play she just didn't want Lily to be happy..." Handing the starburst lacquered instrument to Lillith he picked up the other guitar, he fiddled with the black instrument a bit before taking a seat on one of the stools, Lilly quickly followed his lead while still staring down at the Gibson in her hands.

"This...this was mums...and granddads? This...this was my families?" Smiling sadly he nodded slowly,

"Yes dear, it was, she left it here after graduation, we use to come to this room all the time to practice before...before everything went bad, for your Yule present I'd like to offer you what your mother would have dearly loved to pass down to you if she could, would you let me teach you to play? I would have offered earlier but without your fathers cloak getting away separately not to mention you avoiding that nasty fool Filch would have been nearly impossible," tears freely running down her cheeks and landing on the guitars body she looked up to Snape's worried face smiling sadly.

"Thank you daddy, I'd love to learn," and so in one day she'd learned something new about her mother that Padfoot and Moony had no clue about and inherited yet one more heirloom of her lost past, luckily she'd played some violin so she wasn't completely new to stringed instruments or reading sheet music. The room which dad had called the 'Come and Go Room' proved to be a Goddess send, the professor had a very difficult time getting away from his duties as school began again so the room supplied instructors helping her keep up with her practicing.

So Lilly spent the next couple months learning to play guitar with her dad, hanging out with her friends and experimenting with her new cloak, quite by accident she'd discovered that it shifted with her when using her animagus ability, so after a time she'd figured out how to will it into different shapes. She'd settled on it taking the form of a standard hooded robe with slightly longer than necessary sleeves to conceal her hands, once that was done she had taken to wearing it underneath her everyday school robe. The ability to go invisible at anytime was just too much fun, while she had no real desire to prank people as her father and uncles had she was more than willing to use her new +10 To Stealth ability to sneak off and practice on her mothers guitar.

On a less... innocent note she'd also taken to stealing books from the restricted section of the library and bringing them to Hermione to copy, she'd scold the ravenette lightly for breaking so many rules at once than have a fit of the giggles as she dug into the spoils of her friends theft. One such acquisition run found her perusing a tome discussing the ins and outs of the Dark Arts, (predictably it was an incredibly biased accounting in the Lights favor, shocking, really) Lilly than heard a soft gasp, brows furrowing she closed the book and jammed it back on the shelf, making sure her cloak had her fully covered she padded around the corner quietly.

Pausing she saw a pair of upper years entwined around each other snogging in the shadowed corner, she'd hand it to the couple they were brave to risk the wrath of Madam Pince with such a public display, even this late in the evening. As she was about to turn around and leave them to their own devices she noticed the boy, a seventh year Slytherin she hadn't bothered to introduce herself to had a his wand up his sleeve pointed at the girl. They broke the rather passionate kiss and Lilly could quite clearly see that the Hufflepuff's eyes had a glassy quality to them, the boy whispered something to her and she blinked dumbly and followed him towards the exit.

Lilly lifted an incredulous brow at this turn of events, did one of her housemates seriously just imperius a random Hufflepuff in the middle of the library and no one noticed?

"_Happens more than you think little one, the house of guile and cunning does not exactly attract the most savory of people, the weak are preyed on by the strong and all that,"_ frowning Lilly shook her head in disgust,

"_If what I think is about to happen is happening I really need to do something about it, should I report it?"_ Tom rolled his eyes at that,

_"You've been playacting avoiding your dad the past few months to keep Dumbledore's suspicions down so you can't really go to him and even if you did it would be your word against that of a seventh year, sure Snape would believe you but the Board of Governors?"_ Huffing in annoyance she followed the pair through the doors, worrying her lip she eventually sighed,

_"Oh bugger it, I suppose I'm going to have to manually input some manners into him, I swear if I didn't need these idiots as cannon fodder..."_ Tom only smiled pridefully at this declaration, eventually the Slytherin led the girl into an abandoned classroom and Lilly quickly squeezed through the door before it slammed shut. Realizing quickly that they were in the potions lab she turned to see the boy begin removing the girls outer robes while feeling her up, Lilly really didn't need to see this especially with the very real fear of setting off some of her own triggers but she had to make sure the boy fully intended on going through with this.

Lilly signed in disgust as he bent the girl over and pulled her knickers down, as he was fiddling with his belt she decided that was enough,

"Stupify," she stated in a bored tone sending the imperioused girl to the ground, the boy spun around eyes wide in shock as the shimmering form before him materialized into a petite figure draped in a coal black cloak. Something else she'd figured out about the cloak, you could actually turn it off, her father really hadn't stretched his imagination much when he'd used it in his youth; pulling back the cowl she let the boy register who she was before casting a expelliarmus sending his wand flying.

Letting her own...experiences with similar treatment as this unnamed girl was about to endure freely roll through her mind Lilly ignited the frozen furnace of her rage and let it envelop her. As the whites of her eyes turned obsidian and her irises began to glow she let out what Blaise had assured her was a very creepy giggle and walked towards the older and much larger boy who was slowly backing away from her.

"You know, outside of that troll and those rats Alexander had me practice on I haven't really gotten to let loose with my cruciatus skills since I came to Hogwarts," meeting the boys terrified gaze she grinned widely, "I hope you have endurance, because I can go all night."

Roughly an hour later a very exhausted young girl made her way back into the Slytherin common rooms, waving to her friends she entered her dorm and shucked off her robes tossing them into her trunk and locking it down, she didn't bother changing into her pajamas before collapsing into her bed. She'd been wrong when she'd been intimidating mister would be rapist, her spell casting endurance was just not enough to handle such high level curses for extended periods, not yet anyway. She blew a loose locke of hair from her eyes as she stared up at her beds canopy, it was quite humbling realizing she had so much potential but she could only tap so much of her power at her age, her core wouldn't fully stabilize until her late teens at the earliest and this caused her to grimace.

_"Was it like this for you Tom? Having grand plans and being hindered by your own biology?"_ He made a noise that seemed to register as thoughtful contemplation before responding,

"_Yes and no, you have far more resources than I did at the time, plus you're already jaded so you don't have to learn most of the lessons I did the hard way, but I admit having indepth knowledge of the Dark Arts and being only able to dabble into it until I was older... was irritating."_ Satisfied that she wasn't the only person to be held back by something as annoying as having to wait for puberty to do its job she pulled the blankets over herself and sighed out,

_"Night Tom," _

_"Night Lilly," _He paused a moment before asking,

"_What do you think the reaction will be when they find a twitching Slytherin suffering from memory lose with his pants around his ankles and a half dressed Hufflepuff girl in the potions lab tomorrow?" _Lilly felt her brows raise at that,

_"Oh yeah, the Hufflepuff, forgot about her...huh..."_ She than drifted to sleep on Tom's laughter.

As it ended up the Hufflepuff girl remembered _everything_ leading up to her being stunned, including a squeaking little girl yelling stupefy, she'd pressed charges against the boy, one Vergas LeStrange, and was willing to testify under truth serum and have her memories of the event put on display. That was a black mark Lilly wasn't expecting to hit her house, although as details of the event unfolded Blaise, Hermone, and Draco all eyed her suspiciously, and honestly for good reason it _did_ sound like a stupid 'saving people thing' she'd try and pull off. Vergas happened to be the sole heir to the LeStrange estate and since in his post cruciatus state he was unable to testify a sizable portion of his wealth was given to the Hufflepuff girl whose name was not being disclosed at this point.

Shrugging the whole thing off as a bad job Lilly spent the next couple of weeks hanging out with Hagrid in her free time, she'd found out through casual observation of the horrifically bad liar that Dumbledore was hiding the Philosophers Stone in the third floor of the transfiguration wing and the first defense was a hellhound. Lilly was actually flabbergasted at that, any sorceress summoner could tell you pure bred (i.e. pure demonic) hellhounds were useless as guards because all it took was a music box to put them under for as long as needed. While Tom was keen to go after the stone Lilly had to very sternly point out how the entire thing was a setup, either it was a trap to catch the still kicking piece of Voldemort or a stupid "Herculean Challenge" for her to prove her worth as Dumbles weapon of mass destruction.

After her rather scathing comments Tom largely fell silent on the whole ordeal, as much as that stone might be useful for them the entire situation screamed 'RUN' in capital letters to the young heiress. Time moved on and as the weeks passed by one particular evening found Lilly and Hermione heading out to Hagrid's hut to spend some time with the friendly giant, he'd been overjoyed to find out Lilly had taken up the guitar and somehow had fashioned her an acoustic model to play for him when she visited. Lilly began to strum her guitar and started singing out Led Zepplins 'Immigrant Song' for the bearded man when they heard a roar in his hut, raising a brow Lilly stood and stared down at the sheepish gamekeeper. Sighing she opened the door and saw a baby dragon sitting on his desk lighting miscellaneous things on fire.

After an extraordinarily long argument with he who finds dragons cuddly she'd gotten him to agree to send the damn thing off to Romania with Charlie Weasley who she had met a few years ago through his father, they both found dragons fascinating and Hagrid's willingness to keep one in a wood shed distressing. 'The Heist' as she'd taken to calling the horrendous situation went off without a hitch for the most part, she, Blaise, and Draco had snuck the dragon (that Hagrid had named Norbert...hells bells...) up to the top of the astronomy tower and gotten it away free of harm, it wasn't until the trio got to the base of the tower that they found themselves facing the disgusting grinning visage of Filch staring down at them.

Why the hell hadn't she used the cloak? Right...only Hermione knew about that, gritting her teeth Lillith turned to face the smug Pansy Parkinson and simply pointed at her stating,

"You've managed to be the first student to earn my ire, congratulations."

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**Gods be damned that was annoying, the next chapter will be better but without Harry flailing around and quiditch the story has ALOT of holes in this point, maybe I should put Lilly on the team second year to avoid this crap... Ugh whatever, please tell me what you think because frankly I the _writer_ dislike how this chapter ended up. Oh side note, Lillith is aware Voldemort is probably still out there, but in her mind he's a doppleganger to Tom and not worth her thought for the time being, this will be clarified later. Anyway, as always reviews are appreciated and I promise next chapter will be double this length, preferably triple but that depends on when I get home from work, take care all.**


	11. Quoth the Raven

_**The playful moment between Lilly and Severus was inspired by a conversation I overheard with my friend and his daughter, shes adorable and will be a heart breaker when she's older, he raised her on martial arts and firearms making her one of the most self confidant little ten year olds I've ever met and she kinda dominates any reprimands he gives her. He's so wound around her little finger it's hilarious, anyway this was a ludicrous amount of fun to write, hope you enjoy it and as always, REVIEW!**_

_**Aside-Also those who have read most of my stories may note I have a keen interest in the afterlife, Gaelic lore, and the symbolism of ravens and death, this is all Arthurian Legend, Edgar Allen Poe and Lovecraft's fault, blame them.**_

_**ATTENTION-Anyone want to make the cover image for this story? I always thought an image of Snape holding little Lillith on his lap while she grinned down at a globe of the world in her hands was adorable. Anyway, just a question since I really like this story.**_

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It ended up that Filch was even more petty than Lillith had initially suspected and thanks to needling from that bint Parkinson he'd bypassed Professor Snape and dragged the trio up to the Headmaster's office, as the five newcomers stood before Dumbledore and McGonogall Lilly felt the control over her magic begin to slip at their judging stares. Both Blaise and Draco were returning the looks with practiced indifference, Lillith would normally be taking the lead on that one, but with Parkinson's smug smile and Filch's excited sneer she felt the desire to murder those standing before her. Clearing his throat Dumbledore began speaking,

"This was not quite the best first meeting for us dear children, lemon drop?" Lillith stared down at the dish a moment and asked Tom,

_"They dosed?" _He snorted a bit,

"_You're a properly paranoid young lady, but no it's too obvious, he tried it before but covering the flavor of droughts even with citrus is a losing battle,"_ nodding inwardly she surprised the entire room by reaching for one of the confections, tossing it in the air and catching it in her mouth.

"Thanks," the looks on the two professors faces indicated no one had ever taken him up on the offer before, the goddess be damned twinkle in his eyes showed true amusement for her actions. Smiling congenially he than asked,

"Could you possibly tell me what brings you all here tonight?" Filch stepped forward sneering,

"I caught these little brats breaking curfew, the-" he fell silent still mouthing words, his face purpled in rage noticing Lillith pointing her wand at him as the last visages of her whispered 'silencio' left her mouth.

"Quiet, the adults are talking," turning to the stunned professors she continued, "before your resident child hating sociopathic sadist accosted us thanks to the traitor over there I was leading my friends in an attempt to keep your gamekeeper out of prison." McGonogall's mouth was pinched into a tight line at the girl daring to cast a silencing charm on Filch but she was if nothing else fair so instead of exploding she asked,

"And what do you mean by that Miss Potter?" The Deputy Headmistress took in a quick intake of breath as the girl stared at her, the irises of her eyes scintillating like gemstones,

"Hagrid is a wonderful cheerful man with a heart bigger than Britannia but the common sense of a grapefruit, he'd won a dragon in a card game and hatched the bloody thing, seeing as the fine if he were caught would bankrupt him and he'd end up in Azkaban for six months I contacted a dragon reserve to remove it." She sighed as a wry grin curled up her face, breaking eye contact with the professor she shook her head in amusement, "Goofball would keep manticores if he could I swear." Draco spoke up at this without prompting,

"She wanted to handle it on her own Headmaster but we kind of insisted to come along, the grounds can be dangerous at night and well...baby or not it's a dragon, Blaise and I suppose Parkinson overheard us so he offered to come along as well." Blaise coolly nodded at this, his gold eyes offering no indicator of his emotional state (if anyone were interested to ask it would be angry, mixed with a dash of annoyed), Dumbledore smiled widely at this and looked as if he'd been given the worlds biggest gift.

"There is nothing in this world quite as endearing as true friendship, as you two showed for young Miss Potter and she for our dear Hagrid, I am slightly disappointed you three decided to take matters into your own hands but also impressed at your loyalty." The trio of Slytherin's nodded at this in unison which actually earned a quirk at the corner of McGonogall's mouth, the Headmaster pointedly ignored the still silently raging Filch and the now furious looking Pansy as he turned to his deputy.

Smiling benignly he continued, "While I believe a punishment is in order the loss of house points shouldn't be necessary, since they earned this attention by helping Hagrid they could spend an evenings detention with him, does that sound fair?" The Scotswoman looked down at her great-grandniece, standing proudly shoulder to shoulder with her friends, the trio exuding a sense of calculated indifference but she could see James' defiant posture in the girl. Nodding she agreed,

"It's fitting, one should not be overly punished for helping others through their mistakes, may I suggest Miss Parkinson joins them seeing as she broke curfew as well?" The girl in question let out an indignant sound that was ignored as the Headmaster nodded in agreement, "I'll see to it that Hagrid hears about it soon then, I'm sure he could use their help cleaning up something or other," Dumbledore let out a cheerful clap while smiling happily.

"Well than, you three take this pass to avoid further altercations on your way to your dorms, you may go now," the trio looked surprised to get off so lightly but they were Slytherin's, they didn't ask questions when they got away with something. The two boys gave the professors slight bows and Lillith performed an abbreviated curtsy, they turned to leave and headed down the staircase. Before the door closed they heard the girl sigh out,

"Sorry about that guys, what an evening," Dumbledore then heard Mr. Zabini speak for the first time,"

"Don't worry about it Lils, it's what friends are for, come on we've still got time for a game of exploding snap," and with that they were gone and so was the headmasters smile. Turning to Miss Parkinson he called for a house elf to escort the girl to the dorms and once gone he removed the silencing charm on the still fuming Filch,

"Argus..." he began, "I've warned you before this over zealous desire to chase down and punish children who have never done anything to you is unacceptable, do you honestly believe I hadn't noticed three of my schools brightest students gallivanting around in the dead of night?" Gaping the greasy haired man just stood there with a look of shock on his face, "Miss Potter is a very powerful, very protective young witch and your actions have made yours and Miss Parkinson's future well being questionable at best, I for one have seen her mothers vengeful streak, and I do not envy either of you for earning the daughters ire."

Looking over his spectacles he stared the caretaker in the eye, "Do try to show some proper judgment in the future, you are dismissed." The caretaker left the room grumbling and as soon as the door closed Dumbledore collapsed fully into his seat. He was smiling a bit which confused his deputy,

"Albus what is it?" He shook his head and grabbed a lemon drop, tossing it into his mouth his smile grew wider,

"I was worried about her Minerva, I was worried something went wrong when she was sorted into Slytherin and befriended young Mister Malfoy, but I see her parents in her now, shes fiercely loyal and holds no biases if her friendship with Hagrid is any indicator. Things...things are looking up for the Light, now could you possibly find out _exactly_ how a dragon egg ended up at Hogwarts? As much as I believe Hagrid's intentions were innocent his acquiring such a heavily controlled item is...concerning." Nodding quickly she left the office and promptly made her way down to the dungeons, she'd have to let Severus know what had happened to his charges, and maybe she'd finally get some answers in the process.

As the Slytherin trio entered the common room Lilly let out a deep breath, turning to Blaise she wrapped him in a hug than did the same for Draco, thanking the pair she shuffled off to the girls dorms brow furrowed in concentration. Blaise followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight, letting out a sigh he turned to the blonde and asked,

"So, what do you think she's going to do to Parkinson?" Draco gave him a coy smile as he returned the Italian wizards gaze,

"How are your occulmancy barriers?" Looking nonplussed while cocking a eyebrow he said,

"Quite good, my mother insisted," Nodding Draco continued,

"Did Lillith ever tell you her Godfather spent five years in Azkaban?" Shaking his head and giving his friend a queer look he replied,

"Err, no but I did read about it, why?" Smiling a bit indulgently he began walking to the boys dorms and Blaise followed,

"Uncle Sirius perfected the art of torturing his cellmates without ever touching them driving a dozen hardened Death Eaters to suicide, I recently found out from mother that Lilly has spent the past five years training with him and the Black sisters...I'm going to need a pensieve when she's done, father will enjoy this." Smirking in response Blaise had to agree, with their friends intelligence coupled with that skill set...well the next few days should be interesting to say the least.

Lilly padded into the dorm on light feet quietly changing to not wake her roommates, once again stashing her robes and cloak in her trunk she shucked off the rather tasteless gray skirt/jumper combo and slide into her pink pajamas with the little moving golden snitches on them. Pulling her beds curtains aside she cast the usual charms on them when she noticed the small fox sleeping at the foot, grinning she began scratching it behind its ears, as it unconsciously began shaking its leg in enjoyment its brown eyes snapped open. Stretching the fox stood and then dove at Lilly while shifting into her best friend, landing in her lap she of the bushiest hair rose her eyebrows,

"So how did the heist go?" Lilly grimaced and filled her in on the whole ordeal, Hermione's brows furrowed together in anger and she let out a slightly canine growl, much like Sirius did when he was irritated, after a moment she noticed Lilly's calm visage and smirked, "You have a plan, don't you?" Nodding slowly while playing with a locke of Hermiione's hair she explained,

"I'm going to need some help to make it...impressive though, you need to lie to our house of bigots about one of our favorite authors, and I need to get Sally, Sue Li, and Hannah's help, also some polyjuice from dad," eyebrows raising she hopped off Lillys lap and stretched out beside her pulling the blankets up,

"This I have _got_ to hear," in the end it was a very good thing Lilly put up silencing charms, Hermiones laughter was quite contagious.

The next morning during Charms class Lilly received a letter from a house elf ordering her to go to Snape's office after class, alone. Fillius frowned as he overheard her telling her friends this, while he didn't share the Headmaster's concerns about Severus' proclivities he still worried about the daughter of his favorite student. So in that worry he did something very questionably morale, especially for someone as good natured as himself and cast a eavesdropping charm on Lillith's hair band as she bent down to grab her bags; deciding to assuage his conscience he immediately went to Minerva, sighing she shook her head sadly.

"While I wish it wasn't necessary I would like some answers as well and I'm getting none from either of them, I've an idea what's going on but not enough of one, lets...lets listen in on it and work from there, how long does the charm last?" Pulling a loose button from his pocket he cast the spell to actually hear what was said on it before replying,

"An hour, maybe two, I made it very low powered so it wouldn't set off any wards," nodding to her colleague they waited with bated breath until they heard a door creak open,

_"Heyya Professor Snape, you called for me?" _The door slammed close, Snape cleared his throat,

_"Lillith I had a visit from Professor McGonogall last night-,"_ she interrupted cheerfully,

"_Oh, what did Professor Pretty Kitty have to say?"_ Fillius had to cover his mouth to hide the smile that grew as the older woman's eye twitched, Severus sighed deeply then,

_"Lilly, dearest, I sincerely doubt Minerva would appreciate that...pet name,"_ dearest...oh my, what was the nature of this...was Albus right to worry?

_"Pff, like she's going to find out, besides all the names I give my teachers are positive, well, aside from the whiskered meddling bastard but that goes without saying, besides her animagus form is honestly quite pretty."_

"_May I remind you that that your animagus is that of a little baby bird, offending a *sigh* pretty kitty should be low on your priority list_" Huffing she sounded rather indignant as she cut back with,

_"I am NOT a 'little baby bird' daddy, I am a beautiful graceful raven with lustrous black plumage, a glistening beak, and pedicured claws thank you very_ much," Severus' eyeroll was easily imagined, Fillius' leaned back in shock at the 'daddy' implication much less the animagus as the Potions Master drawled back,

_"My mistake dear, and I have no desire to know how your animagus form has a pedicure, and while I hesitate to ask what do you call your other teachers?"_ There was a distinct giggle before the girl replied,

_"Professor Sprout is Madam Greenthumb, Professor Malfoy is The Lady, and Professor Flitwick is Sensei Funsize," _Minerva turned a catty smile his way as his brows knitted together in confusion, apparently Severus was in the same mindset.

_"Sensei...Funsize?" _You could practically hear the girls nodded enthusiasm,

"_Mmhmm, Sensai because he is dueling master and the way he walks reminds me of the wise old masters in Kung Fu movies, and Funsize because well, like the candy bars, he's funsize!"_ Fillius blushed a bit at this while Minerva shook her head in amusement,

"_I...see"_ Severus stated, obviously not really but wanting to move the conversation along, "_Anyway, she tells me you got a detention last night,"_ another deep sigh this one sounding particularly exasperated.

"_Yeah all thanks to that traitorous horrid twat-"_ Severus cut her off here,

"_Young lady, language," _more huffing,

"_That horrible bint-"_

_"No,"_

_"Two timing bitc-"_

_"Lilly," a sigh,_

_"The girl with the only future career option being a semenal fluid depository-"_

_"Ah Miss Parkinson than,"_

_"Quite, anyway she broke the cardinal rule of Slytherin and turned Blaise, Draco, and myself in to that foul creature Filch while we were out last night,"_ Another sigh from the Potions Master.

"_Why were you out past curfew?" _Lilly's tone became defensive,

_"Hey it wasn't like I wanted to do it, Hagrid, bless his wonderful foolish heart hatched a rudding dragon in his shed and I arranged for it to be taken out of country, not my fault Parkinson has it out for me for some weird reason," _Severus let out a scoff,

_"Please she's jealous," _snorting Lilly spat back,

_"What's she got to be jealous of?" _Severus made a tsking noise,

_"The adoring adulation of the masses, the caring attentions of young Mister Malfoy, being one of the highest marked students in the entire school much less your year-"_ Lilly's scathing voice cut him off,

_"And yet the stupid chits parents are still alive and she was never raped by ol' uncle Touchy, yeah, my life is amazing!"_ Fillius sat up straight looking stunned, turning to Minerva she pursed her lips as if only having a fear confirmed, there was a pregnant pause before Severus stated,

_"Lillith I-"_ he was cut off with what sounded like a clatter than some sobbing,

_"I'm sorry daddy I didn't mean to bring...HIM up...I'm sorry,"_ Severus made a low cooing noise and the only sound heard for a few minutes was the occasional sob, eventually it quieted down and the girl spoke again, "I...I hate her daddy...she's horrible, she's...goddess she's everything my Aunts warned me about here, a ladder climber, an untalented opportunist...a waste of space...I shouldn't let her get to me." Severus sighed than said,

"_Lilly there is nothing to be sorry for, what happened to you wasn't your fault it was the Dursley's and Dumbledore, and as for Miss Parkinson well, you're an imaginative young witch, I'm sure you have something...memorable planned for her already." _There was a snicker from her but you could still hear the tears in her voice,

"_I'm...I need to use one of your potions, and no it won't be used on her, my plan is...not something my father would have thought of, too elaborate...you, mum, or Uncle Padfoot? You three would like it,"_ Severus sighed playfully before replying,

_"As if I could deny you anything, just promise me she isn't damaged permanently and we'll see,"_ another pause,

"_Define, 'permanently' daddy..."_ and with that the spell wore out, Fillius was staring down at his hands for a few minutes then met Minerva's eyes,

"Albus will never hear of this," she nodded quickly,

"Agreed."

Lilly's detention was soon scheduled for the following Saturday, this gave her a few days to work out her plan, it took some finesse to get the three girls necessary for the scheme together, mostly Sue Li because while cordial with each other they hadn't spoken much, the small Chinese girl did share her hatred for Pansy though so there was that. Hermione was currently performing her part of the plan, the common room was mostly full at the moment so she took the time to read Draco and Blaise a story about a wizard who was haunted by the loss of his dead love, no one in the room had to know that Edgar Allen Poe was in fact a muggle and 'The Raven' was not a true telling. Turning to the two blondes and ravenette Lilly waved cautiously as they walked into an empty classroom, making sure the door was locked she spun around and clapped once.

"Ok! So as it ends up you three all happen to have free periods on specific days that Parkinson and I have class, this is an action of psychological warfare, never once will she suspect you three to be involved and your part will actually make it so I'm not culpable." Sally smirked while adjusting her glasses,

"You know I can't stand that little twit so I'm in regardless, but whats the end goal?" Hanna toed the floor nervously but didn't avert her gaze from Lilly's eyes as she added,

"And...and she's not going to be hurt is she?" Bless the little Hufflepuff's heart, Lilly would be shocked if she didn't end up becoming a healer, turning to Sue Li the Chinese girl was giving her polite attention to continue so she did.

"No, not physically, my goal is to drive her to the edge of madness and have no one to blame for it, once the weekend comes around it will all end and she'll be wondering for years if she imagined it, afterwords anytime she acts up I'll activate her trigger putting her into a panic attack. Is it cruel? In a word, yes. Do I particularly care? No, not really. You three will be playing me with the use of polyjuice potion while I do what I need to, yes I know it means extra classes for you but Hermione and I are willing to give you any help with class work you need in exchange for your aid." Sue Li smirked a bit at this,

"So, in the end we just have to sit in class and observe her being driven to the brink while acting as confused as the rest of the class?" Nodding quickly all three girls grinned at once, and stated,

"I'm in," queue Tom's maniacal cackle,

_"Your time at Hogwarts has already been so much more memorable than mine little one, well shall we delve into madness?" _Grinning she agreed with disembodied voice in her head, her Marauder side was about to rear its vicious head for the first time and chaos would follow.

Pansy entered her room that evening a bit unsettled, that mudblood bitch Granger had been reading _her_ Draco and that foreigner Zabini an old poem book, she hadn't caught the authors name but the story of the raven terrorizing the poor heartbroken wizard had gotten to her. Changing she ignored the Carrows who shared a mutual dislike with her and Bulstrode who could be categorized as the female version of Nott's lackeys Crabbe and Goyle before slipping into bed, she'd just begun to drift off to sleep when she heard a rapping on her bed frame.

Opening irritated eyes the pug faced girl sat up looking around in annoyance but the tapping had stopped, grumbling she curled back up when she heard it bloody _again_, growling she once again sat up, this process repeated several times causing her to circle her bed looking for the cause of her insomnia, finding nothing she sat on her bed groaning out,

"Am I ever going to get any sleep," the words,

"Nevermore," were whispered beside her, turning quickly she saw a raven sitting on her pillow staring at her, its emerald eyes boring into her soul, she wanted to scream but it caught in her throat, the raven cocked its head and silently took flight then vanished in thin air. Pansy sat in bed with her knees to her chest and curtains closed the rest of the night, looking about the enclosed space in constant panic waiting for the morning light. The next day found her red eyed and disheveled, she'd gone to class and as she began to zone out listening to Professor Sprout she heard tapping on the planting bed next to her, jumping back she stared at it wild eyed while Potter and Granger eyed her quizzically.

"You all right there Parkinson?" Potter asked with genuine concern, Pansy snapped back with heated hatred,

"Shut your filthy mouth you half-blood bint," cocking a brow her ravenette rival (who had absolutely no idea that was her status with the other girl) tilted her head and turned away ignoring the comment, Pansy _hated_ being ignored. She heard the tapping throughout the day and felt her nerves unraveling, no one else heard it, no one, only her, leaning against the wall of the corridor she muttered,

"Is this ever going to stop?" She heard a ruffling and looked up to see the raven from the night before standing atop the head of a suit of armor, it cocked its head and clearly stated,

"Nevermore," Pansy screamed and ran through the hall, reactivating her invisibility cloak Lilly cawed in amusement as she winged her way to the great hall for lunch. This continued for the rest of the week leaving Pansy jittery and on edge, when Friday rolled around she was jumping at the slightest noises and looked like she hadn't changed once since her ordeal started. Truth be told, Lilly felt kind of bad, she had no idea she would be so good at driving her enemies insane. It ended up that _stopping_ the harassment had been what sent the girl over the edge and ending up in the infirmary, she'd been diagnosed with having a mental breakdown and Madam Pomfrey was actually considering sending her to Saint Mungo's.

"Holy shit," Lilly flatly stated at lunch when she heard this, Draco, Blaise, Hermione, and her three conspirators were all sitting on the empty side of one of the Hufflepuff tables, poor Hannah looked awful, sure she disliked the bigoted Parkinson but she never thought she'd be part of driving the poor girl insane. Sue Li was gently rubbing her back trying to soothe her nerves while Sally was grinning openly highly amused at the entire situation,

"I know right? We should do this more often, there's this bitch in Ravenclaw, Cho, she likes to bully under years we should do her next," Hermione sighed while buttering a slice of toast,

"Language Sally, and I don't know Cho, who is she?" The silent Sue spoke up,

"Oh Sally's right, she's a bitch, she's our house quiditch team seeker and quite stuck up, my family and hers tentatively associate due to our shared heritage but the lot of them are quite 'Holier Than Thou'." Draco and Blaise were for their part quietly observing the girls seeing as far as they were concerned they were simple observers, amused observers for sure, but still just observers, both boys turned to Lilly to hear her reaction to the Chinese girls statement,

"Hmm, we'll wait till next year I think, Draco and I will be trying out for the team so if I can get on as seeker and build a rivalry it will be more fun to knock her down a peg or six," Hannah shook her head sadly at this,

"Can...can I just watch? I won't turn you guys in but seeing Pansy fall apart like that...I don't want to be responsible for that again..." Smiling sadly to the Hufflepuff Lilly nodded slowly,

"I'm sorry Hannah, I really am I had no idea she'd self destruct like that, Little Dragon you grew up with her was she always so...easily manipulated?" The blonde boy scoffed while rolling his mercury gray eyes,

"I wouldn't know, all she would talk about was marrying her prince charming while giving me cow eyes, her lifes goal is seriously to just marry into power, I don't think you actually had to exert the effort you did to destroy her mind," grimacing Lilly sipped her juice while twirling her wand in her off hand, eventually she just shrugged,

"Oops."

That Saturday her bookends (Hermione's words not hers) followed her out to their detention, Pansy had been exempted due to well...insanity, so they were escorted by the silently glowering Filch to Hagrid's cabin, the giant man looked down at his charges with concern before turning to Filch,

"Are ya sure teh Headmaster said teh take these three wit' me out to the forest?" Sneering Filch turned around and headed back to the castle ignoring the Gamekeepers question entirely, sighing he looked back to the trio smiling wanly, "Pleasant chap tha' Filch it'nt he?" Smirking Lilly nodded slightly. Turning he picked up a crossbow that you'd be hard pressed to convince Lilly wasn't a siege weapon he turned back to the children while frowning, "Somethin's... somethin's been go'in after teh unicorns in the Forbidden Forest, we're going to patrol for a bit, I was going to do some serious searching but..." he looked Lilly in the eyes and shook his head, "We ain't do'in anythin' that dangerous." You could feel the relief rolling off both Draco and Blaise, Lilly turned to her enoromous friend and smiled up to him,

"Why not just do our patrol and we can come back, I'll play guitar for you if you can keep up with your flute," grinning down at the small girl he ruffled her hair affectionately and walked ahead of them, dutifully the trio followed him.

"The forest has all sorts o' creatures init, don' know fer sure if all o' them are native but mos' o' them are dangerous to one extent or another, oh if we run into any centaurs be polite and lemme do teh talkin', they're a prickly bunch." Silently nodding Lilly and in turn the boys got closer to Hagrid as the cloying darkness of the silent woods surrounded them, after about a half hour Blaise asked,

"Umm...Hagrid, back home the forests and woods were always filled with noise, why are they so quiet now?" The large man turned around and met the Italian boys eyes,

"There's somethin' out here...be still li'l ones..." They followed growing fearful, without thinking about it she took both boys hands in hers, giving them a reassuring squeeze, that seemed to help all three of them to an extent, Tom than spoke up for the first time that evening.

_"Love, there's something out here I can feel...well I don't know exactly what it is, but its close,"_ inhaling sharply both boys looked at her quickly, in the dead silence of the forest it was quite noticeable, she glanced to both of them and released their hands. She gulped slowly and whispered,

"Wands out," as she said this she drew her mothers wand in her right hand and her Black Dagger in the left, noticing this Draco's eyes widened and he mirrored her actions but his dagger was held in a underhanded grip. As the cloud cover cleared they saw the clearing before them light in the moons glow, and the quartet froze in midstep seeing a shadowed figure leaning over the prone form of a motionless unicorn, Hagrid needed no prompting and shouldered his crossbow aiming at the cloaked mass of shadow.

"Stand up! Hands up!" The figure fluidly took to its feet staring at the group, then as if on skates it slid towards them in a flash, Hagrid's crossbow bolt was quickly deflected and the shadow threw the giant man into the trunk of a tree knocking the air out of him, turning to the children it charged towards them hissing menacingly. Lilly's head was throbbing but she pushed it aside as she found her focus, this _thing_ had hurt her friend, was going to try and hurt _her_ Draco and _her_ Blaise both who were desperately throwing useless hexes at it trying to protect her. Nothing. Hurt. What. Was. Hers. Eyes glowing in rage she fell back onto her default for all dangerous situations and roared,

"INCENDIO!" The super charged fire starting charm looked like a flamethrower from one of those BBC war documentaries, the shadowed figure roared in agony, as the clearing was ignited into an inferno, she stepped forward never once silencing her bellowing challenge. She was the bloody _DARK LADY_ this _thing_ would not hurt what was hers, with that thought she felt the dark reserves within her expand, Tom was seething that she was in danger and practically in awe as she channeled the rage of her very soul turning a simple charm into something so much more. As the fire petered out there was silence aside from the crackling of the fires, huffing loudly she was about to turn to Hagrid when the figure flew from the flames on a jet of black smoke grabbing her, screaming she was carried about the tree tops her rage turning to terror as they sped along.

Eventually she snapped out off it and began stabbing the figure with her dagger, she felt the satisfying squelch of blood and flesh parting as the blade dug into the things guts, screaming in agony it let her go, as she fell back down into the forest and was slapped around by the tree branches flashing past her her last thought was how beautiful the moon looked as she slammed into something unyielding, then it all went dark.

* * *

**FINALLY! Goddess I've wanted to get to this since I started, heh, hope you all enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	12. Mother

**A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR-** So a little back story on what gave me the idea of Lillith being of the Fey (outside of her name obviously) if you'll indulge me, I watched the movie 'Merlin' when I was a kid, the one starring Sam Neil and it hooked me on the Arthur legends. Well I loved Morgan le Fay, I thought she was an interesting if sad character, years later when I went to go see HP:OotP who is playing the bat shit insane crazy awesome axe murderer Death Eater Bellatrix LeStrange? Why no other than the lovely Helena Bonham Carter who played Morgan on Merlin!

So with that in mind I mulled how I could work with that, what if the Black's were direct descendants of Morgana le Fey (always preferred that spelling and there's soooo many varients) who after getting sick of Merlin's shit threw her hands up in the air walked away from Avalon and changed her name becoming one of The Thirteen founding families in the first permanent Magical British government.

Being who and what she was she set a spell that the true heir of the House of Black (and in truth the House of le Fey) will be a woman who like her can embrace the Dark being powered by anger and hatred while being anchored by love and a desire to protect as to never lose herself in either, unfortunately the Blacks took the pure blood thing to heart trying to breed the next heiress. Throw in a millennium of misinformation, pro-Merlin propaganda and wizards lacking anything resembling common sense and we see the near extinction of the Black line and it's fading into the pages of history.

Than along came Lilly, the Heiress of Potter, the descendants of Peverell who outsmarted Death and all but her ancestor, the owner of Death's own cloak, avoided paying for his cunning until he was well and ready to. The Heiress of Evans (Which oddly enough means 'Young Warrior, fitting), who is truly the last of Slytherin, the most cunning and vicious of the ancient founding families and whose grandsire helped build Europe's greatest magical school. Than made the Heiress of Black by her loving godfather, unknowing that in his affection for his dead friends daughter he had marked her for true greatness, greatness that she would have to pay a toll for in the years to come.

This is going to be ever so much fun.

* * *

**_Willow is an uncommon wood for wands, many wizards will confidently saunter into my shop and attempt to claim a willow wand for themselves due to their reputation for advanced non-verbal magic than leave in a fury when the wand rejects them. Funny thing about willow, it will only choose those who have insecurities about themselves but are capable of hiding it from everyone else with a veneer of confidence, and this witch or wizard must have the desire to learn, they must realize they are on the path to greatness, yet have not met it quite yet. In my time as a wand maker I've only found three people capable of wielding such wands, and they have all done terrible yet great things, as my family has said for generations, __he who has furthest to travel will go fastest with willow.- _Garrick Ollivander**

* * *

The first thing to pierce the fog of sleep Lilly found herself in was a low melodious tune, after a time the cotton seemed to be pulled from her ears slowly as the tune became a song, and than she registered the beautiful voice singing it. Opening sleep crusted eyes Lilly found herself staring up into the waxing moon, a few more days and Uncle Remus would find himself curled up watching romance comedies with Aunt Bella; never let it be said she didn't know how to take advantage of her husbands inability to leave the house on the full moon.

With that mildly amusing thought she finally registered that she was laying in a bed of sweet smelling grass and flowers while someone was stroking her hair like her family did when she was upset, looking about without moving she realized that her head was laying in the lap of the singer that had awoken her. The woman had an ethereal quality to her, with milk white skin, plaited silver hair exposing pointed ears, and eerily glowing blue eyes staring up at the moon, and while Lilly's Gaelic wasn't the best she realized the woman was praying in a very ancient dialect.

Shifting ever so slightly the woman paused and looked down at Lilly, her sparkling sapphire eyes shown at her with affection as she stroked Lilly's cheek while speaking for the first time,

"Well little fairy when I left my willow for my evening prayers I never expected to have a child rather crassly crash into my glade, normally I'd have just written it off as mortal foolishness but this-" she lifted Lilly's Fey stone held in its silver cage hanging from the chain Hannah had given her, "-caught my eye." Still smiling she placed it in Lilly's hands lighting the area with an amethyst glow as it touched her skin, "To think I'd find one of my lost sisters descendants on a night when Mars is in full march..." Lillys eyes widened as she processed everything that had been said and gasped out,

"Sidhe Draoi!" Smirking the tree nymph nodded sagely,

"Quite astute little one, you most certainly have Morgana's insight at the very least, now normally my kind avoid humans at all costs, but it seems this encounter was destined so I decided to offer aid." Lilly screwed up her face at this,

"Destined?" The nymph laughed in true amusement at the girls incredulous look,

"Of course little fairy, what is the likelihood that a daughter of Morgana would find one of the few remaining crystal focei not destroyed by your ministry of these wonderful isles and end up crashing quite literally on my doorstop on the only evening of the year this particular glade is in sync with your world?" Lilly decided to concede that point, sitting up she realized she wasn't hurt, which all things considered didn't really seem right with the whole falling to her death thing, shakily taking to her feet the nymph helped her steady herself.

"I...I see, I don't really, but I'm trying," smiling again the nymph curtsied, her gown was as silvery as her hair and seemed to radiate an inner glow as if made from spun moonlight,

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ciara, and who may you be?" Lillith laughed a bit,

"You want all the titles?" Ciara nodded an affirmative, taking a deep breath she continued,

"I am the Lady of Slytherin Lillith Dorea Potter-Peverell-Black, I usually just go with Lilly Potter though, far less of a mouthful," the tree nymph was giving her a very queer look that made the young girl shift uncomfortably.

"Lilith...yes you'd have to be wouldn't you..." clearly uncomfortable Lilly toed the ground a bit before changing the subject,

"So if you don't mind me asking, how did I survive that fall with no injuries, and what can you tell me about that...thing that survived being torched and carried me off?" Ciara shook her head as if clearing her thoughts before smiling again,

"Well to answer the first, you were quite banged up but if you're familiar with wandlore willow has an affinity for healing, that of course comes from our kind, luckily you didn't break any bones that would have taken time even for me to patch up. To answer the second, well you might want to ask that rather charming voice in your head when you leave, he has his suspicions I suspect." She paused and shook her head in amusement, her giggle sounded like tinkling bells, "Rarely would I suggest someone obey what the voices in their head tell them to do but follow his instructions little fairy, he only has your best interests in mind." Reeling a bit from this she called out to Tom but got no response, assuming it had something to do with...whatever this glade was supposed to be she shrugged it off for the moment.

"Curious and curiousor..." she muttered to herself, she felt around for her wand and knife and began to panic when she found neither, Ciara laughed a bit and extended a hand towards her holding both items.

"Willow and phoenix feather...and it's quite fond of you, most witches don't give that sort of care to their wands," sighing in relief Lilly felt the comfortable warmth shoot up her arm as she took up her wand and the reassuring weight of the dagger as she slid it into its sheath. Looking up she stated,

"It was my mum's, she died to protect me so I honor her memory in the ways I can, don't have much from dad though...bloody Umbridge..." nodding sadly Ciara looked at her oddly a moment and seemed to come to a decision, approaching the large tree in the center of the glade the nymph put her hand gently against its bark. As light passed into the tree one of its limbs flexed down, Lilly took a step back very aware what a whomping willow could do since she'd nearly been taken out by the one at Hogwarts while flying in her raven form.

Ciara grasped the offered limb as a glow passed through it, when it faded she turned to Lilly and approached her holding what looked like a wand blank, the handle though was incomplete, it was splayed open with seven distinct offshoots. Smiling she offered it to the small girl,

"Yes...Destiny...such a fickle cruel Mistress, though far more accommodating then Fate, self righteous prat with his woolly prophecies... Sorry, seeing as you already wield the willow of your mother, I offer the willow of my heart tree, when the time comes and you find your wands core and it is complete place a drop of your blood in the handle and insert your focei crystal. You will find the end result...interesting to say the least," wide eyed Lilly took the offered stick of wood and felt the warmth she usually got from her mother's wand but it felt so much more in tune.

"Tha-thank you!" Smiling at the girl fondly Ciara stroked her hair a few times before backing away,

"Your friends will be here in a moment, you and I will not see each other again I'm sad to say, we make it a point to avoid humans in normal situations, speak of this to only those you trust with all your heart, fare thee well daughter of Morgana, and may the Goddess bless you." There was a flash of light and Lilly suddenly found herself back in the Forbidden Forest, the all encompassing gloom suffocating after spending time in the enchanted glade.

"LILLY! ANSWER ME CHILD!" She heard Hagrid bellow fear obvious in his voice, smiling sadly for her friends she stowed the wand blank in her belt pouch and pulled out her mum's firing red sparks into the air. Less then thirty seconds later she was tackled by her tear stained boys, all attempts at keeping aloof composure gone, their voices were tinged with panicked relief as they began showering her with questions,

_"Tom, you get all that?" _There was a very deep sigh,

_"Yes, and I'm sorry I couldn't respond to you, she was quite adamant that I not interfere,"_ nodding inwardly she looked up in time to see a sobbing Hagrid rush up to her and pull her into a bone crushing hug. Sighing to Tom she mentally shook her head,

_"This is going to be a very long night, why can't things be simple?"_ He scoffed at that,

_"Oh please you thrive off chaos, if this were a normal boarding school you'd have burnt it to the ground just to mix things up months ago,"_ there was no need for reply, she knew he was right. As she was escorted back to the castle a thought made it to her lips bypassing her brain,

"Filch is so dead," much to her surprise neither the boys nor Hagrid disagreed with her.

Minerva McGonogall was not an easily flappable woman, it came from surviving two wars, thousands of hormonal students, and her personal pride, that being said when she found out that Filch, that vindictive idiot, had sent her great-grandniece and the heirs to both the Malfoy and Zabini lines out into the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night she felt her heart skip a beat. Worst, how did she find out about it? A panicking Hermione Granger had rushed up to her demanding in quite a bossy manner what she was thinking sending her friends out there for a detention,

"I'm afraid Miss Granger you have me at a loss," the girls bushy hair seemed to get more so as honest anger reflected back from her brown eyes, her normally accommodating top student looked ready to try and hex her Professor right there,

"I just talked to Blaise, Filch dropped off the three of them with Hagrid and told him the Headmaster said to take them with him to check on the 'Unicorn problem,' Hagrid, _Hagrid_ asked him if he was sure but Filch just left them out there, they were attacked and whatever it was broke two of Hagrid's ribs and carried off Lilly!" Minerva's eyes widened in shocked horror, no, not the last of her family, not James daughter, no...gulping she tried to keep a stern visage but her voice slipped causing one of Miss Granger's brows to raise.

"I assure you Miss Granger the Headmaster ordered no such thing, did they find Li-Lilly?" Still seething but seeming a bit mollified the girl nodded,

"I don't know the full story but apparently while in mid flight she stabbed...whatever it was and it dropped her, Blaise said she caught a thirty meter wide patch of forest on fire trying to kill it before it took off with her, whatever it may have been it was strong." Gulping Minerva nodded quickly,

"Am I assuming that your friends are in the infirmary?" Hermione nodded quickly, her eyes oddly reflective showing a predatory gleam,

"Yes, the Weasley twins, Neville, and Sally-Anne are standing guard over her right now, somehow they knew the three of them were out in the woods and Lilly had been separated, they ran into them at the gates when they returned, apparently they were going to try and mount a rescue." At this Miss Granger's anger seemed to abate a bit and she smiled affectionately, "Foolish Lions...glad we have them." Stifling the pride she felt for her students willingness to protect a friend, especially a _Slytherin_ Minerva nodded and began walking to the hospital wing,

"We tend to be protective of our own Miss Granger, I will forgive the brusqueness of your inquiry in light of what happened but in the future I suggest you keep your composure," the girl blushed at that while mumbling an apology. Minerva waved it off, honestly if Lilly could claim this kind of protective loyalty from her friends she had nothing negative to say about it, right now she just needed to make sure the last of her family was well. As they entered the infirmary Minerva was a bit nonplussed seeing not only her Lions but a pair of Hufflepuff's and a Ravenclaw girl standing around an exasperated looking Lillith's bed, she met the Deputy Headmistresses eyes and she could feel the pleading rolling off those emerald orbs. Clearing her throat she gained the rooms attention,

"While I appreciate the concern you are all showing for Miss Potter I must insist you all return to your dorms, it is well past curfew, if anyone asks as you return to your dorms, tell them to come to me." Seemingly mollified by this the group gave their wishes to Lilly and filed out of the room, the trio of Slytherin's made no move to leave, she fully expected this and didn't even bother commenting on it. Approaching the bed she gave Lilly a small smile,

"How are you doing child?" The girl gave her a wan grin in return while shaking her head,

"A bit overwhelmed, D-Professor Snape has already been here and gone, apparently he is tracking down Filch and dragging him up to the Headmasters office, I'd pay to see that confrontation but alas Fuhrer Pompfrey insists I stay put for the evening." Resisting the urge to snort at the girls description of the resident medi-witch Minerva nodded slightly in acknowledgment,

"Very well than, I will be expecting a full explanation of what happened this evening tomorrow," her severe expression gave way to a soft smile as she looked at Lilly's friends, "You three may stay here for the evening if you wish." With that she excused herself, once leaving the room she cast a disillusionment on herself and shifted to her tabby cat form, padding quietly back into the room she hid underneath one of the beds and listened silently to the four Slytherins. Lilly sighed and dropped back onto her pillows, Hermione curled up on the bed next to her pulling her into a hug, Blaise and Draco both sat on the bed worry written on their faces, eventually Lilly returned Hermione's hug and shuddered a bit letting out the tension that had kept her moving to this point. After a few moments she broke the embrace and sat up, eventually Draco spoke up,

"Lilly, do...do you know what that thing was?" Rubbing her temples Lilly mulled over whether to tell them Tom's hunch or not, deciding to put her faith in her friends she let out a shuddering sigh before replying,

"It was Voldemort..." The three Slytherin's and one cat sat upright at this revelation, "I...it's something to do with my scar, where he marked me, I can feel his presence... he was drinking the unicorns blood when we found him, it can give you an extended life but...well..." Blaise shook his head before speaking,

"But you'll be cursed for eternity for defiling such a pure creature...par for the course I suppose nothing was too depraved for You-Know-Who," Lilly gave him a sour look at that,

"Please as someone who has to live with a ridiculously hyphenated title just call him by name or the Dark Lord if you prefer, I'm sure it even annoyed him that he was referred to as 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,' I mean really being terrified of an anagram is just silly." This got Draco's attention, his father's association with Lord Voldemort was something that their group tried not to bring up especially since Lilly was actually very fond of the blonde man, not being able to help himself he asked,

"What do you mean Lilly?" She sighed and asked for some parchment and a quill, she quickly wrote out 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' then 'I am Lord Voldemort,' as her friends stared down at it incredulously, eventually Draco slowly stated, "Riddle...Riddle isn't a Pure-Blood name..." Lilly sighed and looked a bit regretful before she stated,

"No...it's muggle...he was a Half-Blood...like me...well not quite like me, my mum descended from Slytherin squibs, his father was one hundred percent pure muggle, kind of depressing how self hating he'd become, kind of reminded me of Hitler and his Jewish heritage honestly..." The room remained silent as the boys processed this and Minerva goggled at the revelation that a former classmate of hers was the Dark Lord, Hermione didn't look surprised though, more then likely Lilly had already confided in her.

Sighing Lilly played with a strand of her hair before continuing, "Anyway I'm guessing that flying thing was using the 'fuming' technique, heard dark wizards could pull that off, useful, anyway I stabbed him, it, whatever in the gut a few times and fell back into the forest and passed out. When I came to I was pretty much lost but then you two found me," with that she gave the boys a brilliant smile that caused both of them to blush, stretching out she fell back onto the bed with her hands behind her head, "Guys lets get some sleep, we'll write this off as a bad job and deal with it tomorrow." Getting agreement from her friends the boys decided to sleep in the beds beside hers but Hermione made no motions of moving, use to her friends clingy nature when worried about the ravenette Lilly just threw the blankets over them and soon fell asleep, Minerva left the room to contemplate the evenings revelations.

One thing was for certain she was going to ignore Albus' insistence that she not share her relationship with her great-grandniece any longer, she'd already nearly lost her twice this year and she would no longer risk not getting to know her last remaining family member because He-With-Too-Many-Bloody-Names said so.

The next few days passed in a blur for Lillith, Filch had been put on probation and had his ability to assign detentions removed, frankly she just wanted to Avada Kedavra him and be done with it but no one had asked her, probably for the best really. Her first guitar session with her dad after that fateful detention was mostly spent being hugged into submission, it was sweet if annoying, outside of that not much happened other than cramming for exams and dealing with the fact Quirrell had once again become useless. Honestly if the year wasn't almost out at this point she'd probably get rid of him but it was largely pointless now, that and she was rather disappointed in him, she'd grown to rather like the man since Samhain. As exams ground to an end Lilly was finally free to relax a bit so she opted to hang out by the lake soaking in the afternoon sunshine with a large group of her friends.

She was leaning against the large maple tree near the lakes shore with Sally's head resting in her lap as the bespectacled blonde read a sci-fi novel, Sue Li and Blaise were on either side of her also leaning against the tree while Draco, Hermione, Hannah and Neville were tossing scraps of food out to the giant squid. Lilly pulled a face at the thing, she'd watched some rather disturbing cartoons on the video cassettes she'd found in Nymphadora's room last year involving school girls and tentacles so the squid just creeped her the hell out. As she lazed about Tom spoke up sounding panicked,

"_Uh, Lillith, love, dearest, I do believe the other me is about to go after the Philosophers stone,"_ looking up sharply she asked,

_"How do you know?"_ Sighing he shook his head,

_"Because I just became unreasonably happy for no reason,"_ pausing Lilly remembered the vile creature that tried to hurt her friends, that had thrown her to her death into the Forbidden Forest, looking up at group that should be enemies yet were allies she nodded slowly, shifting enough to get Sally to sit up the group turned to their nominal leader as she stood giving them a fierce smile.

"So...you guys wanna go find out what's in the third floor corridor of the transfiguration wing?"

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**I really love writing this story, chapters a bit shorter than last but I have to go out for a few hours so figured I'd throw this out for you guys, hope you enjoyed. Oh as an aside if you're all wondering, Harry loved both his parents but fixated on James, so I just flipped it with the gender change which actually gave me a lot of leeway. In my headcannon Lily Potter nee Evans was a genius bordering on madness whose love for her daughter was so pure and well...vengeful that she defied every law and convention to protect her, that protective nature is in her daughter as well. Anyway, please REVIEW, hopefully have another chapter up in a few days unless I'm inspired by something.**

**OH! the whole thing with the willow wands and the like was from Pottermore, the Tree Nymph and all that was Celtic mythology, hope you all liked it!**


	13. Friends, Allies, Family

**I may need to do some re-editing tomorrow but I'm too tired to go over this again at the moment and I still don't have a beta, hope you all enjoy and please REVIEW!**

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Severus Snape was enjoying a relaxing afternoon in the teachers lounge sipping his luncheon tea while grading finals papers for the various dunderheads of the student population, currently he was on the Weasley twins work and was forced to roll his eyes for a third year in a row. The two playacted being completely inadequate in the field of potions during the entire term, purposely losing points and marks for the day to give them a 'Devil May Care' persona with the student population. Than, on the one test of the year that _actually_ meant anything to their permanent records they blew their entire years curve by acing the final going in so far as to offer advice on how to improve the potion in question in the margins. He never thought he'd say this, but he really wished those two had just bit the bullet and gone Slytherin, this in mind he glanced up at the door hearing a faint knock.

Fillius and Minerva shared the room with him and they looked up in unison, the Deputy Headmistress stood and approached the door, opening it she seemed a bit startled seeing who it was.

"Mister Zabini, Miss Abbot, how can I help you?" Severus leaned to the side to see past Minerva and Hannah looked near tears while Blaise looked bored, unless one looked at his eyes, they showed true concern. Miss Abbot stammered out,

"Pr-pro-professor, may we speak to you?" Nodding she let the two students in, it wasn't until they were inside that the three faculty members realized Mister Zabini was playing bodyguard, eyeing the corners of the room and standing just slightly in front and to the side of Miss Abbot, curious.

"Of course dear, what is it that brings you here today?" Taking in a deep breath the Hufflepuff girl tried to remain calm and much to the three professors shock Blaise placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. The blonde threw the Italian boy a thankful smile before continuing,

"It's, it's about Lillith ma'am, Lillith Potter," Snape sat up ramrod straight at this as the girl continued, "She figured that since the terms over why not find out what the Headmaster was 'Hiding' in the third floor of the transfiguration wing. She mentioned how if we really weren't supposed to go there than, and I quote 'Why the bloody hell did he announce to an entire castle of children that they weren't supposed to go there.' Anyway..." she took a deep breath and contuined, "We went into the corridor and the door was open, when we looked inside..."

At this the girl broke down crying and buried her head in Blaise's shoulder, sobs wracking her shoulders, the boy rubbed his hand up and down her back trying to calm her, sighing he turned his gaze to his head of house and continued for the distraught girl.

"The door had already been blown off its hinges, there was a guard dog," at this he winced a bit as Hannah dug her nails into his shoulder, "rather, what was left of a guard dog, Lilly said it was hellhound and it had been hit with the mother of all reductor curses...so much blood..." This caused the three adults to exchange shocked glances as the boy tried to collect himself, he raised his free hand and it was holding a large wadded up strip of purple fabric.

Clearing his throat he continued as fast as he could, "We found this near the blown up trap door by the co-corpse, Hermione says it's Professor Quirrell's turban, when Lilly saw it and well...saw how the two of us reacted to the hellhound she asked us to find you three and give you this." He dropped the tattered fabric and prying a folded piece of parchment from Hannah's hand offering it to Minerva, she read it quickly and gasped, looking the two children over she nodded quickly,

"Fifty points to Slythering and Fifty points to Hufflepuff, Mister Zabini please escort Miss Abbot to the infirmary, thank you for your help," nodding quickly the boy shot Severus a knowing look and led the blonde off. Minerva handed the parchment to Fillius who grew stony faced as he handed it off to Severus, hopping down from his chair the diminutive professor flexed his right hand and his wand fell into place. Severus picked the note up and felt his heart spasm as he read his daughters handwriting,

_"It would appear that Headmaster Meddler didn't anticipate Voldemort possessing a faculty member, Fluffy is dead and I can smell smoke below me so I can only assume that he's blasted his way through the first defense. I don't have time to wait for you all so I sent some trusted friends to retrieve you, the Dark Lord must not get the Philosophers Stone, why that fool of a Headmaster made it into a spectacle is beyond me. If we don't make it, tell my family I love them more than anything,_

_With Regards,_

_Lilly Potter and Friends_

Sue Li was coughing lightly as she shook the soot off her robes, Draco was helping Hermione out off the smoldering remains of what looked like devils snare as Lilly, Neville, and Sally examined the enclosed area. Lilly turned to Neville raising a brow,

"You're the gardening savant here dear godbrother, thoughts?" Neville scowled while holding his chin contemplating the mess before them as their friends righted themselves,

"I don't like it, devils snare is a great defense for garden walls, or patches along a manor near the windows to keep out casual observers, it's rudding useless in enclosed spaces all it takes is a bright flash or-" he cut off glancing to the smoldering vegetation, "fire to put it down. I really don't see this as a viable defense." Draco walked towards them flanked by Sue and Hermione, his normally pristine face smeared in ash as he drawled,

"Well at least we know why everyone in our year had to grow the things, pity they gave _first years_ the know how on how to bypass it..." Lilly thought he looked quite dashing with a bit of dirt on him, rather rugged, shrugging that thought off she glanced to Hermione who shook her head slowly.

"I feel like this was some sort of setup, Professor Sprout has specimens that would be considered biological weapons in the muggle world, why use something this mundane to protect...anything?" The three girls who had remained quiet said nothing, they could only agree and had nothing to add, turning to the door Sue Li gestured towards its fire charred surface.

"Shall we?" Nodding the six students pushed the crumbling door open and entered a corridor, what sounded like aggravated buzzing filled their ears before they found themselves in a large room swarming with small birds. The far end housed a door that had been blown off its hinges, several brooms lay scattered on the floor around the broken oaken planks and bent iron straps.

"Subtle," Sally quipped, the six looked up into the swarm of birds that ended up being enchanted winged keys, "So I'm assuming first room was a defense Professor Sprout put in place and this was Professor Flitwick's, whoever is ahead of us just refuses to play by the rules." The group nodded in agreement as they pushed through the blasted barricade, fumbling around in the dark they finally made it into another large,room, dominating its center was a massive chess board complete with pieces.

Lilly swallowed a bit as the black pieces across the room followed her friends with their heads, almost quivering in anticipation of bloodshed, Sue Li spoke up quietly,

"I assume this is Professor McGonagall's...it appears we are to take some pieces places, are any of you good at this game?" The group exchanged weary looks as they mulled this over, Lilly herself enjoyed the game but despised how people treated it like a real world indicator of tactical prowess. Really, can you hire an assassin to frame the Queen for the murder of the King? Can you expose the Bishops sexual deviancy to knock them from power or subvert the pawns with the promise of riches? No, it had no real world applications in her opinion so she really put no effort into it. Neville cleared his throat then,

"I'm...proficient, my uncles insisted I learn it as a proper gentleman and Ronald is obsessed with it, the only way to get the boy to shut it is to play a few games with him..." Nodding she patted her Godbrother on the arm as he began giving assignments. "Sue, why not take that bishop, you do like to come at people from the side unexpectedly. Hermione the rook? Fitting for you, straight forward and all, Sally take the knight ok? Draco, you take the queen and Lilly the king I'll take the final knight." Lilly stared at the empty spot she was supposed to take a moment before replying,

"Why am I the most useless piece Nev?" He turned to her his face completely free of any emotion,

"Because you're far too important to all of us to risk your safety," eyes widening as her friends all nodded she could only gape as Draco pushed her into position, glowering at her godbrother she huffed and crossed her arms,

"I'll get you for this dear brother," he smiled at her as he took his position and bowed lightly,

"And you'll be alive to do so dear sister," the following game was...heart wrenching, both Sue and Sally were taken out early on, Hermione was clipped but the year of martial arts training she had spent with Lillith and Sirius hadn't been a waste and she avoided most of the damage. Draco gulped as he realized the only move that would give them a checkmate, Neville actually looked horrified as the blonde stared down the rook protecting the black king. Draco sighed and nodded,

"Well...hopefully I get away with just a concussion," before Lillith or Hermione could stop him (and they totally would have) Draco sacrificed himself taking down the rook and than getting clobbered by the king, Neville finished the game by taking the king and the group rushed up to their downed friend. Dragging him over to Sue and Sally the three stared down at their friends in horror,

"I...Goddess I just wanted to explore I didn't want to race a murderous bastard to the end of this sacrificing my friends!" Lilly yelled with very real fear written across her face, Hermione and Neville wrapped her in their arms as they watched their prone friends for movement, after a few minutes Sally began to stir. She cracked open her eyes and sat up slowly, pushing up her glasses with her middle finger she turned to Neville and raised a single brow to him,

"Proficient? I hate to see what you consider poor Nev," that was enough to break the tension and they had a bit of a laugh, Sue eventually stirred and sat up but Draco was still down. Worrying her lip Lilly looked towards the now open door and than back to her unconscious friend, noticing this Sue smiled and planted herself next to the blonde boy.

"I'm too beat up to be any use, come on fearless leader you dragged us down here go complete the dungeon, defeat the monster, get the treasure, so on and so forth, we'll be ok." Giving the Chinese girl a hug and Draco one last lingering look she led her three friends into the next room where she promptly fell to her knees and threw up, looking up she had to avert her gaze from the two eviscerated trolls laying prone in the small glade in the caverns center.

Their blood saturated everything pooling clear to the edges of the walls, covering their mouths the quartet made their way along the edges of the room gingerly avoiding the coagulating streams of bodily fluids. Entering the next room the group gasped for breath as the door slammed behind them, her friends looked at the room in confusion but Lilly felt her heart stop recognizing exactly what it was.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit," she'd probably have continued like this if Sally hadn't shaken her roughly,

"Lilly what is it!" Staring at her blonde friend in horror she whimpered a bit before responding,

"This room was designed by Aunt Cissy...those are demon summoning glyphs on the floor..." Hermione groaned at this,

"So...run?" Lilly nodded as the runes began to glow,

"RUN NOW!" And so they did, they'd nearly made it to the other side of the room before several Hellhounds like the now deceased Fluffy poured out of the Damnation Gates followed by dozens of imps. As her friends tried to force the enormous door open Lilly centered herself, igniting her icy furnace she thought out to Tom,

_"Suggestions my friend?"_ Trying to remain calm he eventually said,

_"Remember how you wanted to try out that spell you and your Aunt Bella came up with? I think now is the perfect situation to field it,"_ nodding inwardly she turned to Hermione, meeting her best friends eyes she smiled sadly. "Hermione when I cast this I need you to throw that shield Uncle Moony showed you over us, or we're going to die," Hermione's eyes widened in shock but she didn't give the girl time to respond.

Stepping forward she watched the encroaching demonic horde with trepidation, releasing her breath she pointed her mother's wand at the center of the room and made a wide circle, as she smoothly made a five pointed star in its boundaries she intoned, "CZAR BOMBARDA MAXIMUS!"

As the explosion curse left her wand she had already spun around and dove behind Hermione who yelled out,

"AEGIS PROTEGO MAXIMUS!" As the golden shell covered the quartet they were all nearly deafened by the massive explosion that consumed the entire room, with her connection to the schools wards Lilly knew it actually had shaken the foundations a bit. Hermione held back the inferno but her bookworm friend looked like she was about to keel over, there was a laugh behind her as the massive door rocked open.

"HA! Sally grab Lils I got 'Mione," Neville stated, Sally wrapped both arms around Lilly and practically tackled her into the next chamber as Neville scoop up Hermione and charged behind them. Just as the shield failed the doors slammed behind them but not before a few licks of flame curled through the cracks, the four of them leaned against each other breathing heavily before Neville began laughing. Soon the entire group had fallen into a hysterical fit of the giggles and it took a few minutes for them to get over it. Eventually Lilly wiped the soot from her face and addressed her friends,

"And here I thought the end of year exams were supposed to be boring!" Still snickering and high on adrenaline the quartet reached Professor Snape's challenge, and of course it had to be a logic puzzle. "You two figure it out Neville and I are going to sit here and look pretty," she announced to Sally and Hermione as she hooked an arm around her godbrothers shoulders and fell to the ground with him.

"You know, all told, I don't think I'd trade this adventure for anything," he quipped after a few minutes, turning to view the two girls mulling over the table of potions and then back to the slightly cracked and smoldering doors they'd come through she couldn't help but snicker a bit.

"Yeah, maybe next year we can one up this," Neville eyed her a moment then threw an arm around her pulling her close,

"Only you sis..." Eventually Hermione made that adorable squealing noise that indicated she figured something out, grasping the vial she and Sally approached them looking a bit apprehensive.

"This is it but...there's only enough for one," Nodding Lilly shrugged off Neville's arm and stood taking the vial,

"I guess that's my queue," Neville stood and made to grab for the vial before she jerked it back, the boys kind eyes hardened as he crossed his arms,

"We didn't keep you safe through all this to just have you rush off on your own Lils, we care about you blast it," choking up a bit she had to focus her core and kick her occulamancy into overdrive to not feel overwhelmed by that sentiment.

"I know that Nev, and thank you you have no idea how much that means to me, but...this was my idea, when I suggested it I never thought we'd be racing against a psychopath burning his way through ahead of us...just..." She gave him a watery smile that seemed to take the edge out of all three of her friends, "I've got to do this, if...if who I think is in there is in there well...it _has _to be me..."

She 'eeped' a bit as she was pulled into a group hug, Hermione whispered, "Come back," in her ear while Neville and Sally just cried a bit, sighing she broke the hold and turned to her friends, "Take the potion that will lead you back to the beginning, get help and for the love of Morgana don't go through that demon room again." Inhaling slowly she downed the potion and ran through the black flames, it was an incredibly odd experience, they burned yet froze and than...tickled, as she got to the other side she fell to her knees feeling incredibly weak and short of breath.

"Takes it out of you doesn't it young Miss Potter? I admit the demons were not expected, one hellhound that's fine, thirty? Not so much," Looking up she saw Professor Quirrell standing before a large mirror in the center of the chamber. The man continued unabated, "I've been here about twenty minutes already, you've certainly made good time considering your age handicap, unfortunately I'm having difficulties figuring out this last puzzle." Pushing herself to her feet she approached the professor warily, she'd never seen him without the turban before, he had shoulder length brown hair and honestly it looked quite good on him.

"Yes...I really didn't anticipate the later challenges considering how lackluster the first few were," he nodded stroking his chin still staring at the mirror,

"Hmm indeed, although Narcissa's was your fault, that was an addition after you rid the school of Binns, not that I blame you young lady you take your schooling very seriously something I find myself quite approving of," still feeling short of breath from her magical expenditure and her sprint through the flames Lilly took a knee before the dais leading up to the mirror and sucked in as much fresh air as she could before responding.

"Professor, if you don't mind me asking how are you completely useless one moment and incredibly insightful and downright knowledgeable the next?" Pausing the man slowly turned from the mirror and gave her a knowing smile,

"Ah yes, you would notice, it is quite...hilarious how little common sense the average magical has, you see I possessed the good Professor at the beginning of the year but after you exorcised Binns I realized you'd probably do the same to someone as useless as Quirrell." She smirked up at him and nodded slowly before he continued, "So up until our encounter in the forest I took over, the past two weeks I had to relinquish control to keep this body together." Lilly nodded at this before retaking her feet,

"So either you get what you came here for or he's dead regardless now that you're not playing spectral duct tape correct?" He smirked and nodded turning back to the mirror, "Who are you?" He didn't bother turning back around for that as he replied,

"Oh I'm quite sure you figured it out already, you and your little...clique are far more alert than the rest of this school, but to wave away any doubt I am Lord Voldemort, please don't judge on this shells lack of fashion sense I really do have better taste than this." Tom cut in with,

_"I really do, Italian suits and French silk undergarments go together splendidly,"_ grimacing she groused,

"_Thanks for the imagery Tom, now please I'm working?"_ Conceding the point he went silent as Lilly outwardly nodded,

"I thought as much, so I'm guessing it's the Philosophers Stone you're after yes?" Quirrell...Voldemort...Quirrelemort nodded slowly before replying,

"Yes I'm not quite sure what the trick is, the mirror is showing me holding the stone yet nothing is happening, a bit vexing I must admit," Lilly nodded as she walked up beside him causing one of his brows to raise as she asked,

"So out of curiosity if you tried to kill me in the forest why aren't you now?" Turning to face her he shrugged,

"I'd planned on killing you earlier but our encounter on Samhain stilled my hand, I find you to be...far more interesting than what I was led to believe, as for the forest well, I was high as a goblin on spice after drinking the unicorn blood, I literally had no idea who I had attacked before we were airborne, I do apologize for that." Lilly shrugged,

"Meh, I survived," she than turned to face the mirror and gasped, staring back at her was her adult self that Tom had shown her years ago, surrounded by her friends and family including her parents. She recognized Tom at her right and Hermione at her left, and before her there was countless thousands bowing to her, elves, centaurs, witches, wizards, giants, merfolk, they all bowed down to her. Quirrelemort noticed her wide eyed gaze and leaned in to her ear whispering,

"What do you see little one?" She couldn't help the grin curling up her face,

"I hope the future, the world bowing to its Queen..." Turning fully to the girl with an appraising look on his face he didn't notice the ruffle of her robes pocket as her brow furrowed in confusion. It was at that moment that the far wall exploded in splinters and her dad rushed in through the dust and smoke followed by professors Pretty Kitty and Sensei Funsize all with wands drawn, the concussive blast had sent her flying backwards and she'd rather painfully rolled down the dais. Quirrelemort laughed lightly at the entrance,

"Well, you have learned some dramatics Severus I'll give you that, and look a half creature and a blood traitor, this should be, amusing," with that he began throwing curses at the three new arrivals, Lilly pulled herself up into a sitting position and wormed her back against the wall. The world kept focusing in and out and she was feeling sick to her stomach,

_"Concussion love, just take deep clear breaths, keep your eyes closed or you'll only make matters worse,"_ taking his word for it she was sure she was missing an epic showdown but she much preferred not throwing up again today. She was startled as she was pulled into a crushing hug, snapping her eyes open Hermione was crouched before her crying openly,

"Thought I told you to take the potion with the others," she sobbed and sniffled a moment before smiling widely,

"I know, I just didn't listen," snorting she returned the hug, digging into her pocket she fished an item out and placed it into Hermione's grasp gently wrapping her friends fingers around it, the brown eyed genius looked at her in confusion but Lilly's only response was to wink in return. There was a large explosion on the other side of the room and Quirrelemort's body went flying into the weird future vision mirror, sending broken shards of glass and an spurts of blood down the dais, pulling Hermione closer Lilly closed her eyes once again fighting the waves of nausea courtesy of her concussion. A silence pervaded the room but it was soon interrupted as the pair were rushed by her frantic dad who gently pushed Hermione aside and scooped Lilly up in his arms, as the concussions effects took its toll she openly groaned out,

"Daddy can we go home now? I'm really tired of Hogwarts..."

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_**One more chapter and we're done with first year, I'm going to have a chapter covering her first summer home but considering I personally normally find these boring in others stories I'll be making it abbreviated except for when she's hanging out with Aunti Bella and Uncle Padfoot because I love them. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, please REVIEW!**_


	14. Death, Destiny, Decisions

_**SORRY! Been very very busy this week, filed the divorce papers against the adulteress this week and all my free time has been taken up with lawyers and a crash course in legal'eze. Bit short, a bit condensed, but it's better then nothing, expect next chapter to be longer, also dunno if it was due to my emotionally charged week but writing Neville's confession really upset me, lemme know if I was just being stupid all right? Anyway hope you all enjoy and next chapter will involve Sirius and Tonks kidnapping Lilly and dragging her across Europe and the States for rock concerts, the Black sisters teaching her the best methods on disposing of bodies as well as she and Hermione figuring out what the hell they're going to do with their stolen Philosopher's Stone. As always REVIEW!**_

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The entire school was abuzz with the news that Lillith Potter and her friends had chased a dark wizard through the off limits third floor and in the end it resulted in the death of a possessed Professor Quirrell and the hospitalization of several students. For once the Hogwarts rumor mill had gotten most of the story right, the line fed by Hermione indicated that Lilly had put a detection charm on the trapdoor and when she felt it activate she led her friends to the scene of carnage. While most of the school accepted this Slytherin house knew to be wary, Lilly's behavior had been oddly Gryffindor'ish in this instance and if they'd all learned one thing in the past nine months it was that Lillith did not act rashly thus creating even more questions.

Unfortunately those who had answers were keeping quiet or were still unconscious while being watched over by a rather caustic Lady Malfoy and Professor Snape, so Alexander Nott found himself contemplating the mess in silence with very little information to work with. The brunette young man rubbed his eyes in annoyance as he tried to process the enigma that was Lillith Potter, supposedly the Lady of Slytherin if the sorting hat was to be believed. That was the thing of it though, she never directly claimed the title, she simply showed off her power and cowed those that crossed her. She was subtle, brutally pragmatic, and viciously opportunistic; truth be told if she were a few years older he'd probably pursue her himself she was the perfect woman as for as he was concerned.

He really needed to talk to Theodore, the poor boy was starting to follow their idiot fathers directives and to put it simply it would lead their family to ruin, Lillith Potter was the next Dark Lady after all. Sure Alexander may be stretching things a bit but she showed all the signs of greatness with none of Voldemort's idiocy, she wanted to preserve their customs and religion while embracing the muggle science of genetics, a subject he himself found interesting. The Pure-Blood Prerogative was ignorance at best and even the likes of Lucius Malfoy had begun to accept that, preserve the culture spread the bloodlines, unfortunately for every Pure-Blood who was swayed there were six who were not.

It was in these deep thoughts buried in the darkest corners of the Slytherin common room that Alexander overheard several girls talking, if he were to guess they were fifth through seventh years.

"-ithout the crazy little bitch there to protect her the mudblood is free game, frankly it's an embarrassment to Salazar that she's gotten away with wearing our standard most of the year. It's our chance to show her that her place is in the dirt, just like all the other mudbloods." Alexander felt an eyebrow raise at this, there really could only be one girl they were speaking of, and put simply this could be very entertaining for the conflicted young man. His Dark Arts lessons with Lillith had quickly evolved into tutoring the young lady and her three closest friends, and if there was one word he could use to describe Hermione Granger it was 'Competent'.

So as he listened in on these foolish children plotting on jumping the young girl while her "protector" was still unconscious Alexander silently lamented that the Weasley twins weren't there, he'd dearly love to place a bet at the moment. As the girls decided on a course of action Alexander shook his head in disbelief as he waved over Jennifer Pucey, as his long term girlfriend approached he whispered into her ear,

"Wanna see something funny?" The blond smirked and nodded, the two seventh years tapped each other on the head with their wands casting disillusion charms, shaking off the feeling that an egg had just been cracked over his head Alexander led Jen towards the still gossiping girls. It wasn't long until they found their target, the bushy haired brunette was busily whispering to the Zabini boy when the large group of girls blocked their way, Hermione looked up and arced a brow in question.

"Yes?" One of the older girls stepped forward and sneered down at the first year,

"Well well well if it isn't the little mudblood whore without her protector, what are you doing with Zabini, signing up as one of his future conquests?" Zabini for his part actually skipped "indignant" and jumped directly to "bloody enraged", Hermione for her part raised a hand and placed it on her friends shoulder restraining him. Turning to the group of girls she stepped forward twisting her body so she was presenting her left side limiting her profile, he watched as she twitched her concealed right hand as her wand fell into it.

Smirking he grabbed Jen and dragged her back to the wall with him as Hermione responded,

"If you have something to say, say it, I'm as Slytherin as a witch could be so please, enlighten me as to why you think I'm some simpleton wishing to become a concubine." The other girls exchanged looks, they were supposed to be intimidating the mudblood not antagonizing her, one of the group stepped forward with a wand drawn and that basically ended the fight before it began.

Alexander had been`witness to several dueling exhibitions over the years, and he distinctly remembered his father pointing out Andromeda Tonks and the stance she took,

_"See that son? That's the Black Dance, it's one of the most fluid, chaotic, and deadly fighting styles in our world, it takes years of study to perfect and even then you have to be graced with the presence of a Black to learn it. Andromeda is the scariest of the three sisters, she's only been confronted by our Lord's forces once, after their rather horrific deaths he declared her off limits, remember that my boy, never cross a Black."_

Alexander winced as Hermione began to dance about, in less then thirty seconds a dozen girls were on the ground screaming in agony, Hermione shoved her wand up her sleeve turning back to a sick looking Zabini before she asked,

"Would you like to go see Lilly with me?" Shaking himself Zabini nodded quickly and the two first years walked away from the twitching and bleeding group left in their wake, Jennifer ended their disillusionments and turned to Alexander with a look of horror on her face. Shaking his head slowly the young man kept his silence, he would never say anything to cross his future Dark Lady's second in command.

Lilly groggily came to staring at a bleach white ceiling, glancing to her left and right she saw stainless steel catches to prevent her rolling off to the floor, coughing she was soon approached by her Aunt Cissy and...

"Daddy...I hurt...alot..." Severus Snape leaned over the prone girl cupping her cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb lightly across her face he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Child, what possessed you to do something so...foolish?" Coughing again she grasped his hand while smiling gently,

"Just because that stupid vault was set up as a challenge didn't mean it wasn't protecting something special, and I will not lie to you daddy, if I had known what it would have cost me..." she grew silent and stared at the ceiling again, the distinct scent of ozone filled the room as her magic roiled. "If I had known what it would cost those I held dear I would have just blown up the entrance and waited for you all..." Severus released her face and sat beside the bed, stroking the hair along her head the ravenette sighed and leaned into the touch.

"Lilly I'm just happy you're alive, I...I don't know what I'd do without you..." smirking the young girl cracked her eyes open and with humor in her voice replied,

"And it'll be a long...Loooooong time before you have to worry about that daddy, I'm a very stubborn witch...is everyone else ok?" Pausing he was beaten by Narcissa who dropped one of the steel catches and sat on the hospital bed primly,

"Yes dear, and before you say anything Draco explained everything to me, no one blames you.." she paused as fresh tears graced the young Potter heiresses eyes,

"Little Dragon's ok? He...he's not hurt right?" Processing the pet name and the very real concern Narcissa coiled her satisfaction to the back of her mind as she remained blank faced and nodded,

"Draco is fine, in fact the Headmaster-" she could not restrain her eyeroll when it came to Dumbledore, "-Appointed all that followed you house points which I've been informed mean next to nothing to you. Do yourself a favor and don't let the other houses hear about that, you're a bit sadistic like myself and my sisters and your schoolmates consternation will bring you amusement over the years." Smirking Lilly nodded lightly,

"Am I going to be expelled?" Severus shook his head quickly taking his daughters hand,

"Far from it dear, for reasons known only to himself Dumbledore is beyond ecstatic you involved yourself in this misadventure, and please I know you regret it but...but please explain to me what lead you to be so...stupidly reckless and Gryffindor'ish?" The little ravenette stretched out then cuddled up next to her dad before replying,

"Because it's what the fools expected..." with that she drifted back to sleep as Severus and Narcissa exchanged looks, after a few moments the blonde woman buried her bubbling laughter in her shawl. Leave it to Lillith to turn a bad situation to her favor, in the coming years no one would know where she stood and public opinion would be exactly where she wanted it to be. After that Lilly and her friends were released from the hospital wing right before the leaving feast and thus thrown into the maelstrom of gossip that was the Hogwarts student body, after a time Lilly finally secluded herself with her friends plus the Weasely twins, for some odd reason she liked the pair.

"And that's about it, he was after whatever was held in the mirror and it was destroyed when his body was thrown through it..." Fred and George shook their heads in sync before one of them replied,

"Honestly I'm not really shocked," his brother picked up there,

"Quirrell always seemed off,"

"Really while the best defense professor we've had so far,"

"He really didn't seem that wound together if you take our meaning," Lilly suppressed her laughter at the twins antics as well as Quirell's real identity before replying,

"In the end it really doesn't matter, he's dead, we're not, and Slytherin still won the house cup, so net gain as far as I'm concerned," the none Slytherin's in the room gave her reproachful looks as Draco, Hermione, and Blaise snickered. Smirking Lilly shook her head as Hedwig flew into the room landing on her shoulder, casting levitation charms on everyone's trunks she grabbed her own and made her way through the Great Hall, turning to the large group of mostly first years she couldn't help but smirk.

"_Not a bad turn out for nine months of work wouldn't you say Tom?" _The Dark Lord in her head chuckled a bit,

_"A core group of loyal followers who ask no questions spread across all four houses as well as acquiring the Philosopher's Stone and Death's Cloak? Yes I'd say you made out."_ Lilly prided herself on the fact that she didn't stumble at the mention of 'Death's Cloak',

"_Tom...what do you mean about the cloak?"_ He was quiet for a few moments before replying,

_"I didn't want to set your expectations too high but I"m fairly certain the Peverell's were the 'Three Brother's', love the entire idea of an ancestral invisibility cloak is simply balderdash, those cloaks last at best two years of constant use and maintenance, and they don't adapt to the user's whims. And lets be honest here you activated its default setting by accident and what did it look like?" _ Lilly mulled over his words as she pushed open the main gates with her friends trailing behind,

"_It looks like the sterotypical Grim Reaper's cloak,so black it absorbs the light around it..."_ Tom nodded quickly,

"_So yes, I think you're currently wearing Death's own cloak, which Death is beyond me but still, something to consider,"_ sighing a bit she shook her head as she made her way to the carriages that would escort them down to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express. She stumbled a bit as she caught sight of the carriages and the creatures tied to them, they looked like pitch black skeletal horses with leathery bat-like wings folded along their backs, eyes widening she gasped out,

"What...what in the name of Morgana are those!?" Her friends looked at her in confusion, all except Neville who gave her a sad smile,

"They're Thestrals Lils...only those of us that have witnessed Death can see them..." the group eyed the pair of god-siblings as they took in a sight they could not share in.

"...Who was it for you Nev..." Her god brother looked ill a moment before collecting himself,

"My father...I...my parents were targeted by a group of Death Eaters after You-Kn...Voldemort was defeated, mum died first in the hall to my room, she killed Rabastan LeStrange and his wife before she fell...Dad fell back and was bleeding badly when he got to me. He barricaded the door and held them off until the Auror's showed up... My first conscious memory was watching my father bleed to death while he protected me..." Lillith stared at Neville in horror and grabbed the boy in her arms sobbing into his shoulder, he stayed stoic but she felt the tears roll down his cheeks. Collecting her wits she shuddered and whispered into his ear,

"It was mum...she begged Voldemort not to take me, she was badly injured, broken arm, lost her left eye, femoral artery ruptured... he laughed as he cast the killing curse on her...my first memory is a bright green light and my mums dying scream..." Neville pulled her into his arms even more tightly as Lilly let out ten years of anguish, she'd never told anyone, not her dad, not her Aunt Bella, not even Tom that she'd remembered the murder of her mother. Their friends stared at the pair in obvious discomfort, unsure what to do as the pair unexpectidly aired their worst memories, after a minute or two they pulled aprt, before letting her go Neville leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"If you ever need to talk about it Lils...I'm here..." She stood on her tip toes and pecked his cheek,

"Ditto brother, ditto..." As the group finally began moving to their individual carriages one of the Thestrals turned to Lilly and Neville, she stopped abruptly and was nearly knocked over by a startled Hermione, reaching up she pet the creature and it leaned down and licked the tears from her cheek. It was...odd, but for some reason it made her feel better, stroking its mane she lost herself a bit before Hermione coughed,

"Lilly, we need to get moving, and well...we need to talk about a few things," remembering her theft of the Philosopher's Stone Lilly nodded and pulled her hand back and was surprised to feel something tug on her magic, confused she looked down at her hand and saw a long black hair was wrapped around fingers. Feeling the power pulsing through the hair she looked to the thestral who whinnied and stomped his hoof down once, recognizing the gift for what it was she curtsied the dark creature who much to her shock nodded in return. Draco and Blaise looked confused as she wound the hair around her finger, entering the carriage with the other three Slytherins she stretched the hair back out and looked down at it reverently, Blaise caught her attention as the carriage began moving.

"What's with the hair Lilly?" Smirking she met his golden eyes as a Cheshire cat smile spread across her face,

"It seems I'm destined to be tied to Death...it's the core to my wand Blaise...the core to my wand..." Once on the train the trip back to Kings Cross Station was uneventful, the boys played card games while Lilly and Hermione whispered about the stone, while a bit of coup neither witch had any idea how the hell to make the thing work. In the end Lillith resolved to ask Auntie Bella, if anyone knew how to make illegal substances with a stolen Philosopher's Stone and not tell anyone about it it would be Bellatrix Lupin. As the students disembarked from the train Lilly said her goodbyes to her friends, seeing Aunt Andi and Uncle Teddy Lilly broke into a run and jumped into their arms, the next few months were going to be wonderful, she just knew it.

Draco approached his father who had arrived alone, it was to be expected honestly mother was still at Hogwarts grading finals papers, nodding to the tall blonde man Draco greeted him respectfully.

"Father, it is good to see you again, how have you been?" Smiling down at the boy Lucius shrugged off generations of decorum to give the surprised boy a brief hug,

"It's good to see you again son, drawing the ladies in like your old man I see?" Blushing Draco quickly glanced back to the group consisting of Lillith, Hermione, Sue Li, Hanna, Susan Bones, and Sally-Anne before responding with a light cough,

"I have no idea what you are speaking of father," rolling his gray eyes Lucius rested his hand on the boys shoulder guiding him towards the stations apparation point,

"Of course son, of course," after arriving at the gates of Malfoy Manor father and son walked to the enormous building in silence, Draco made for his room and paused for a moment, turning around he approached his father and handed him a folded piece of parchment. Bowing lightly he begged his leave and called Dobby to help him take his trunk upstairs, opening the parchment Lucius good mood evaporated as he read the careful calligraphy of Lillith Potter

_Tom Marvolo Riddle_

_I AM LORD VOLDEMORT_

Below that Draco's careful scrawl was scratched in,

_Riddle name is muggle, who did you nearly lose everything for?_

Pausing he stared up the stairs at the son who suddenly became infinitely more interesting than he had been a moment before,

"Who indeed my dear son...who indeed..."


	15. Eye of the Tiger

**The scenes with Lucius and Narcissa were actually quite fun to write, and the point is mostly to emphasize that Lillith is not _nearly_ as good at hiding her alignment as she thinks she is, after all she's only eleven and even with Tom's help the Malfoy's are old hands at dealing with Dark Lords. Also to answer a reviewers questions, she'll be getting a snake near middle of the coming school year and no there are no pairings as of yet, sure she'll date eventually but I find the entire idea of "soul mates" to be rather asinine so nothing is set in stone but I like hearing your input.**

**Oh yes, most of this chapter (or all of summer holidays really) won't have Professor Snape in it since he gets so much screen time in the school year, don't worry not phasing him out, also thinking there will be 2-3 holiday chapters. I really am kind of stalling because I've come to really love this character and don't want her to deal with what I have outlined for year two but its...ugh...necessary, anyway I hope you all enjoy and please REVIEW!**

* * *

Lucius Malfoy found himself in a bit of quandary, he and Thadius Nott had spent nearly six months developing and tweaking a plan that was intended to destabilize Dumbledore's position in their society while at the same time discrediting the rather annoying Weasley patriarch. Yes he'd helped the man acquire his position in the ministry but his blind loyalty to Dumbledore made him a liability and the artefakt that the Dark Lord entrusted Lucius with would have worked nicely in putting both men in check. Unfortunately two pieces of information had come to his attention that greatly interfered with these plans, namely his lovely wife informing him that Arthur was actually in Black's pocket, and that the Dark Lord was not in fact a Pure-Blood.

Sipping the fine aged whiskey from its crystal decanter Lucius glowered at the open expanse of his ancestral homes back gardens, closing his eyes a moment he felt the fresh summer breeze blow in through the open windows carrying the laughter of children with it. Rubbing the bridge of his nose he took another sip of the potent liquor and observed his son laughing with the Potter girl and the pair of mud...muggle-born witches as they flitted about the Quiditch pitch at rather alarming speeds. That had taken some getting use to, Narcissa had taken to hitting him with a stinging hex every time the 'M Word' was said in her presence, being a survivor and rather disliking sleeping on his studies couch it did not take him long to omit the phrase from his common vernacular.

Shaking his head realizing he was letting the alcohol cloud his mind he tossed the rest of the drink out the window and placed the glass back on his desk, pacing about the room he picked up the enchanted diary and began flipping through its empty pages in contemplation. Several things were stilling his hand on this, first off his own son was currently attending Hogwarts ergo this plan would put Draco in the path of danger, the fact that Thadius cared nothing for the safety of his own children mildly concerned him. Another issue was he actually rather _liked_ Lillith Potter and her annoying lowborn friends, Hermione was trying her best conform to their culture and carve a place in their world and Sally-Anne was much the same if not more caustically sarcastic about it.

The largest issue though was the scrap of parchment currently taunting him from its position on his desk, the Dark Lord's true identity displayed in immaculate calligraphy for all the world to see. It had taken a matter of days to research one Tom Riddle to find that Draco and Lillith were more then likely correct on the identity of the fallen but not vanquished Dark Lord; gritting his teeth Lucius slapped the decanter off his desk and felt a small amount of satisfaction as it shattered against the wall, seething he began pacing again.

"Bastard played our entire Society as fools and was more than likely laughing as we bled ourselves dry dancing to his tune all the while draining our family fortunes, snake faced muggle blooded bastard..." Staring down at the diary in his hands he came to a decision, if Voldemort...no...Riddle managed to return and wanted to re-enter the game than the Malfoy's would simply refuse to play from here on out. Opening the blood rune locked safe hidden in the wall mosaic Lucius unceremoniously tossed the book into the armored enclosure and slammed it shut,

"If Thadius wants to remain a servant on his knees he can do the dirty work himself," nodding as his resolve solidified Lord Malfoy called Dobby to clean up the broken glass and made for the manors back doors; perhaps he could join the children in a pick up game, it was about damn time he got to know his son and his friends better.

Lilly was grinning widely as she swerved about above the Malfoy Quiditch pitch, after last years lackluster Gryffindor performance she had decided to take it upon herself to train Sally-Anne to become a seeker like herself. Draco joined in as he intended to go for the open chaser position while Hermione followed along simply to help her friends train, they all found it odd Lilly wanted to coach her competition but it made sense to her so that was all that mattered. All was fair in love and war, sports though were meant for fun and to test ones self, what was the point in stomping a weaker opponent into submission? Really how was one supposed to improve herself if she only fought against her inferiors at all times?

Thankfully her uncles and dad all understood her viewpoint and had pitched in to buy both her and her muggle-born friend Nimbus 2001's for this years tryouts, Draco had already received one from his father and Hermione was just puttering around on a modest Clean Sweep since she lacked any real interest in the game. Lilly was twirling around her bespectacled blonde friend as they searched for the golden snitch when they heard a sharp whistle from below, spotting both Lord and Lady Malfoy holding brooms the quartet landed before the pair.

"Hello son, ladies, we were wondering if you all wouldn't mind a pair of old hands joining in," the Malfoy patriarch drawled, grinning widely Lilly chirped out,

"I get aunt Cissy, losers pay for the ice cream!" Exchanging pleased smirks the older blondes nodded in agreement, two hours later the exhausted group of six sat around the patio table snacking on frozen treats supplied by Dobby. Lucius was loath to admit it but this was honestly one of the most amusing days of his adult life, as he contemplated what event in recent years had caused him to lighten up he was drawn to the gentle touch of a small hand on his arm. Turning to Lillith he raised a brow which earned him a giggle,

"You know I honestly think that's a Slytherin thing, I and all my friends can pull it off...anyway I never got to write the letter you suggested since I found the last component on our way home from school but...I have all the parts to my wand. I was wondering...does your offer still stand?" Smiling inwardly but remaining stone faced he nodded slowly,

"He mostly spends time in Bulgaria, Romania, and Germany, Lord Black tells me you'll be taking holiday on the continent most of next month so if you wish I can let Mykew Gregorovitch know of your interest. You're quite fortunate honestly I hear he intends to retire very soon, if I may ask what are your wand bases?" The small ravenette sucked down another spoonful of ice cream before replying, idly he mused _'What is with that girl and chocolate?' _

"Well, my handle is a Fey crystal..." that got both elder Malfoy's attention, the girls and Draco hadn't reacted likely already in the know, "The wood is from a willow tree, like my mum's..." Lucius nodded at that, it made sense honestly, the girl was if nothing else on the path to greatness. "And my core is...a thestral hair," Lucius felt his eyes _want_ to bulge at that but years of practice kept his reaction to himself.

"Well," he began, "It seems you've managed to build yourself a very valuable partner little one, remember to treat it with respect when it is completed," she smiled and nodded as she dug back into her ice cream. Hours later after the Tonks family arrived to pick up the girls Lucius lay in bed with Narcissa wrapped around him, say what you will about a woman's clingyness nothing could ever eclipse having the one you love wrapped around you. After a few moments she spoke up,

"Dear, what is keeping you from sleep?" He remained silent as he ran his fingers down her bare back, after a time he sighed out,

"It's Lillith, I..." he paused shaking his head slowly, "I've only really known her for a short while but I fear for her, the talents she exhibits, her ability to draw anyone worth while in as friends, and even her wand being made of uncommon materials...she's special...and I'm worried..." Narcissa for her part remained silent for a time before replying,

"You want her for Draco, do you not," it wasn't a question and he didn't bother denying it as he quickly agreed,

"Yes, she has the potential to be the next Dark Lady ...yet it doesn't frighten me nearly as much as it should, in fact I'm almost excited to see what the future holds for her and our son. The way she talks, plots, and weaves her little webs reminds me of the stories of the original Dark Lords who led our people to greatness, not the smooth talkers who ended up being babbling psychopaths who wish to rule the world just to indulge their sadism; I want to see what happens, I want to see the man Draco could grow into walking beside someone like her. Does that make me a bad father?" Narcissa shifted as she drew him into a kiss before resting her head against his chest,

"No love, if what I've seen holds a dram of truth Draco is safest next to Lillith Potter unless of course he throws himself into harms way to protect her...did I tell you she calls him her 'Little Dragon'?" The teasing tone caused him to arc a brow,

"He's a Malfoy their's nothing little about-" he was cut off by the playful smack from his wife earning her a chuckle, "I won't push it one way or another, she considers him a friend and that is fine with me, if it grows into more I will be most pleased. Last thing I'm going to do is pull a Parkinson and try to push a marriage contract," he watched Narcissa's nose scrunch up at that in the dull light,

"Good, now get some sleep dear, Sirius is taking the girls on holiday soon and you know that means you're going to be taking up the dogs work load until he gets back," sighing he pulled her closer and settled in for the night. He didn't know what the future held, but as long as he could avoid foolish old meddlers and pretender Dark Lords he felt it would all be quite interesting to watch unfold.

* * *

Lilly walked into the kitchen of the Tonks home rubbing sleep sand from her eyes operating mostly on autopilot, Lillith Potter was many things but a morning person she was not, sure she got _up_ early but that didn't mean she liked it. Absently putting a kettle on to boil she began preparing breakfast for her family, she got to spend so little time with Aunt Andi and Uncle Teddy now that she was in school that she felt it was necessary to show some extra effort for them. As she was frying a few rashers of bacon and some bangers Hedwig flew into the room and landed on her shoulder, the beautiful snowy owl was eyeing the frying meat with a predators gleam. Snorting at her familiars antics she jabbed a fork into one of the cooked links cooling on a plate and lifted it up to the pleased owl, Hedwig leaned over and nipped Lilly's ear affectionately before snatching the dripping morsel and flying off with it.

"You really spoil that bird you know that?" Turning around Lilly met the groggy visage of the woman who she viewed as her older sister as she stumbled into the room in a pair of boxers and a tank top, Dora sat at the table and rested her head in her crossed arms while her spiked hair fluctuated between shades of red and blue.

"Morning sis, and yes yes I do, so who are you training with today?" The auror cadet groaned a bit her voice muffled as she refused to lift her head,

"Freaking Madeye...again, apparently I gained his interest so hoo-bloody-ray for me," Lilly snorted at this as she began preparing the eggs,

"How do you want your eggs Dora?" She shook her hand with a limp wrist,

"Eh, in a basket if you don't mind," nodding Lilly grabbed a slice of bread and tore out its center, slathering it with butter she tossed it into the pan and cracked an egg into it,

"So you finish your training next week right? That's when you and Padfoot are taking me on this world tour of yours?" As the egg began to cook she took the kettle and poured some tea for her cousin placing the steaming mug before the prone woman, Dora's hair shifted to bright pink as she smelled a nearby source of caffeine and sat up to properly grasp the offered bounty.

"Thanks love, and yes, thank Morgana, a solid year of this crap is more than enough thank you very much, Sirius and I already decided we'll hit the continent before the colonies so we can get your wand started, you excited?" Grinning Lilly nodded quickly as she tossed a rasher of bacon and the egg onto a plate handing it over to the pleased looking woman,

"Quite, after all the crap I've gone through this year I'm looking forward to traveling around a bit, and well, my own custom wand is just kind of brilliant don't you think?" Nodding as she tore into her meal Dora didn't get to respond before Andromeda and Theodore entered the room,

"Ello Auntie, Uncle, how would you two like your eggs?" The couple had long learned to not fight Lillith on the breakfast thing so they made their requests and sat with their daughter. Handing the meals over Lilly sat down with her own plate and began to dig in, Andi cleared her throat a bit before speaking,

"So Lilly have you put any thought into your electives for your third year? I know you have plenty of time but it doesn't hurt to plan ahead," chewing her mouthful of food the girl swallowed it quickly before responding.

"Mmhmm, Hermione and I both decided to take all the electives, I'm probably going to put all my effort into Arithmancy and Ancient Runes though considering Muggle Studies is pointless for me and Dora tells me Divination is basically a creative writing class that lets you discuss interesting ways for you to die. Not sure if I'll like Care of Magical Creatures but it could be fun, honestly though not putting too much thought into next year, I'm just hoping this year is less...eventful than last." Andi nodded at that as she sipped her tea,

"Not shocked honestly, you both are rather classic overachievers and I wouldn't worry too much about trouble this year, after that whole Quirrell thing along with the troll the Board of Governors will be watching the school closely, anyway I noticed you're quite close to that Malfoy boy, something I should know?" Choking on a piece of toast Lilly began coughing as Dora leaned over and smacked her on the back, as her throat cleared she glared up to her smirking Aunt,

"There's nothing going on, I'm eleven for crying out loud, ugh I swear if it isn't you it's aunt Cissy and..." growing quiet the ravenette rolled her eyes and leaned back into her chair while crossing her arms pouting. "And you're taking the mickey out of me aren't you?" Nodding while twitching her teacup towards her niece Andi smirked lightly,

"But of course, now go on finish your breakfast and go get dressed I'll clean up the dishes, do recall that the rest of this week you're going to be staying at Lupin manor." Eyes widening the petite girl shoveled the rest of her meal into her mouth and sprinted out of the room after giving its three occupants each a kiss on the cheek, shaking his head ruefully Ted looked to his wife,

"Doesn't it concern you how much she looks up to Bella?" Nodding slowly the brunette woman than shrugged,

"Yes, but you have to admit their inventions are...memorable," snorting he didn't bother mentioning that 'memorable' wasn't always a good thing with those two, Dora wasn't so silent though,

"Yes memorable since it isn't everyday that a mad genius teaches a little girl how to perform necromancy, did you hear Aunt Bella has been trying to get ahold of elephant cadavers to see if she can make and I quote 'Bloody huge zombie tanks'? How Uncle Remus puts up with some of that woman's experiments..." Ted shrugged as he finished his tea and stood up to get to work,

"Love, a twisted sense of humor, and far kinkier sex than I'd like to be privy to if I had to guess, I'll see you lovely ladies this evening." Both women had a pinched look about them as they tried not to think of the images popping into their heads as Ted excused himself, after a few minutes Dora left as well leaving Andi to herself.. After cleaning up she gracefully moved through the large home to Lillith's room, cracking open the door she smirked as she caught the girl practicing with her knife and wand out, the small ravenette was a blur of motion and when Andi caught the song the girl was humming to herself she had to shove her fist into her mouth to stop laughing. Quickly walking away she finally let out her pent up mirth,

"Well at least I can tell Ted that his Rocky marathon with her left an impression," still chuckling the eldest Black sister sat in the parlor and waited on her niece, sure she might be a bit late for work but she'd give the girl time to be a child, she deserved it.

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**Isn't Lilly just an adorable fountain of terrifying darkness? Anyway this chapter should have been longer but I'm very tired from work and figured I'd just write the second half tomorrow and give you all something to read over the weekend with this. Next up, Aunti Bella, Nirvana concert with Padfoot and Tonks and getting her wand created, Review!**


	16. Wands, Dragons, and Badboys

**I'm sick but have to work regardless so nothing fancy about this chapter, I'm going to try and get some sleep, try being the operative word here. Oh and to that reviewer who brought up Tom's presence in Lilly's head setting off Dark Marks, don't you think Snape would have noticed his daughter causing the Dark Lord's mark to ignite some time in the past six years? Thinking waaaaay too much into it bro, anyway enjoy and review you guys are great, seriously over 400 favorites and damn near 700 follows for a story that's been out for two months and some change? Awesome, you guys are awesome.**

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The following week found Lilly sitting on her bed in Lupin Manor tuning the guitar Aunt Andi and Dora had bought for her as an early birthday present, the Les Paul was similar to her mum's but instead of the sunburst pattern it was a metallic emerald with a raven carrying a lily flower in its claws painted on. It was quite possibly the coolest thing the preteen had ever owned, as she and Sally-Anne practiced she wondered if she could draw any of her other friends in to play, that'd be a lark a bunch of school girls forming a rock band. She'd been more than a little surprised to find out her blonde friend knew how to play the bass to begin with but was less so when she revealed that her dad played in a Beatles tribute band.

So the two friends had made it a point to polish their skills before they embarked on a month long jaunt through Europe and North America hitting as many muggle and magical rock concerts as possible. Sirius being the Black of Blacks basically ran through kilometers of red tape middle fingers extended to get their special visas, and in turn Sally being Sally thought it was hilarious how he rode roughshod over the government. They both lamented none of their other friends could come but they were largely Pure-Bloods who didn't want to hang out all summer with muggles and Hermione's parents had dragged her off to France; luckily Dora had passed Auror training with flying colors so they wouldn't be stuck with just the semi-sane Lord Black the entire trip.

"So Lils what are you looking forward to most this summer?" Turning to Sally who at the moment looked mildly diabolical due to the glare coming off her glasses Lilly just shrugged before adjusting her strings again, there _had_ to be a way to magically fix that.

"Not sure, never been to a concert before so for all I know I'll hate it, but I _am_ looking forward to getting my wand crafted, Uncle Luc said that it would take roughly a month of continuous work to be finished so I'm hoping I'll get it before school starts." Sally nodded as she began playing the bass line for 'Shoot To Thrill', smirking Lilly followed her lead until they heard a knock on the door, turning off the amp Lilly placed her guitar on the bed and yelled, "Come in!" After a pause Auntie Bella entered the room with a massive grin on her face,

"Ello my little serpent and her lovely cub friend, I just had a marvelous idea!" Smirking Sally jumped up nearly tossing her bass aside, she'd quickly fallen in love with Bellatrix calling her 'A mentally unstable Mortica Addams with ADHD' and fondly awaited the wild eyed witches latest scheme,

"And what would that be Mrs. Lupin?" She playfully smacked the top of Sally's head before continuing,

"It's Auntie Bella to the likes of you, _and_ I just had a thought! What happens to a werewolf killed on the full moon?" The girls exchanged looks than shrugged, grinning wider Bellatrix continued, "Why the corpse remains in its werewolf form of course! So I was thinking if we got ourselves a bunch of dead werewolves we could turn them into inferni and have a legion of were-zombies at our beck and call!" Eyes widening Lilly stared at her aunt in awe,

"That would be bloody wicked, but where would we get the corpses?" Sally tapped her chin a moment than chirped out,

"Well, the United Kingdom really looks down on the whole execution thing so the muggle prisons are full of convicts that deserve to die, we could apparate in and kidnap a bunch of them, turn them, kill them, and then throw some food preserving charms on them before turning them into zombies." Both ravenettes stared at the girl openly gaping for a moment before Bella broke out cackling and picked her up swinging her around a few times before placing the dizzy blonde back on the ground,

"Lilly have I ever told you how much I love the people you draw to your little circle? Hehe...now how to turn them?" Lilly smiled winningly at that,

"Uncle Moony of course, but the trick is getting him to agree to it," Bella hmm'd a second before replying,

"Quite true quite true, hmmm, could probably talk him into it as a science experiment with a few sex coupons, don't really mind the red hood and cloak honestly, all right girls lets go for it!" Remus Lupin was reading the morning paper (the muggle not magical, he liked his facts to be factual thank you very much) when he heard three distinct female voices yell from down the hall,

"FOR SCIENCE!" Shivering he came to the sudden realization that he needed to be absolutely anywhere else within the next ten seconds or he would dearly regret it. So it was with that he apparated directly into the parlor of Sirius' flat who at the moment was enjoying a morning coffee while watching telly. The goatee'd man quirked a brow at his best friends sudden arrival but said nothing as he poured him a cup and tossed in a couple cubes of sugar before passing it over. Remus nodded and took a sip before saying anything,

"Women are insane, you're aware of this right?" Laughing Sirius threw his legs onto the table while downing his cup in one gulp, tossing it to the floor not really caring if it broke or not he rolled his eyes before responding,

"You have noticed I've remained resolutely single mate? I'm well aware of the fickle nature of the fairer sex, a hounds life is the life for me." Remus snorted at that as he blew on his steaming drink,

"And here I thought it was because most woman couldn't stand the smell of wet dog, or the fact that you're constantly trying to lick your own-"

"OY! That was once and I was sixteen!" Laughing Remus quirked a brow up at that,

"Really, because last week I swore I caught you-" he was interrupted by the flying pillow hitting his face, now laughing with Sirius he just shook his head, moments like this made him really miss James and Lily and their witty commentary. But...well, they had each other and they all watched over Lillith, and that was enough he for now, finishing his coffee he motioned towards the stack of concert listings on the table. Taking notice Sirius grinned,

"There's this new band called the Weird Sisters, they're on a world tour piggy-backing on a bunch of muggle concerts across the continent, I figured we'd follow them a couple weeks since the first concert is in Bulgaria we can get Lilly's wand parts to that guy whose name I can't pronounce. After that we'll hit Canada and the States." Nodding Remus picked up the pamphlets when the fireplace flared and his wife rolled out,

"Remus love, how do you feel about gnawing on a bunch of convicts in the name of science?" Sirius expression remained neutral but his eyes screamed with mirth as he calmly asked,

"Yeah mate, how do you feel about that?" Remus buried his face in his hands and groaned loudly, bloody Blacks...

* * *

The day before heading to Bulgaria Lillith approached Aunt Bella who was in the midst of yelling at a large taloned arm lashing about as it floated in the air above an intricate glowing array, the small girl stood there nervously as her mentor cursed in Sumerian,

_"Listen you little bastard you're going to behave or we're going to find out if their's a god, which we're both aware there is because she's standing right here, and she's fresh out of mercy, now BEHAVE before I just incinerate you and start over with a less pissy limb!"_ For it's part the flailing arm went limp looking oddly dejected, nodding at her acknowledged superiority Bella began jabbing it with a few syringes before she turned and noticed her niece. "Lillath honestly what's with the long face?" Toeing the floor a bit she coughed and asked,

"If hypothetically I ended up with an incredibly illegal and stolen alchemical catalyst and offered it to you to find out how to manufacture the elixir of life would you keep it quiet since it gives you the ability to finally beat god at his own game?" Bella froze and turned to the petite child she looked at as her own adoptive daughter appraising her a moment before grinning and quickly turning back to her work,

"No idea what you're talking about love, I have no control over where my machinations take me when I find things on my desk, you know how barmy I can be..." grinning widely Lilly placed a red crystal on her Aunt's desk before heading for the door.

"Love you Auntie Bella, see you in a month, don't do anything a Gryffindor would!" After a few minutes Bella turned around and picked up the red stone tossing it into the air a few times her grin widening to terror inducing levels,

"I need to get those dire wolf cadavers they found in the tundra as soon as possible, this could be fun...thank you love...at least someone understands me..."

* * *

The quartet had arrived in Bulgaria without any real fanfare which both Sirius and Lilly were grateful for, letting Dora hit them all with translation charms the group bought a port key to a small village that had a name none of them had any hope of actually pronouncing. The girls dragged Sirius along as they entered the magical shopping district grabbing this and thats, the Lord Black keeping his tongue due to rather enjoying not being hexed; say what you will about Sirius Black he knew what he'd been signing himself up for from the beginning. So when the group finally arrived before the branch of Gregorovitch Zauberstäbe Sirius was more than happy to let his goddaughter, her friend, and cousin rush ahead of him, Morgana be blessed at least he didn't have to hear about how they had to match their knickers with their stockings anymore, too many unwanted visuals.

As the group entered the shop a dinging bell drew a large man with a bushy gray beard and long matching hair from the back rooms, his dark eyes assessed the group before settling on Lillith, he was staring at the package in her hands as his bushy eyebrows rose in question.

"Welcome to Gregorovitch Zauberstäbe, my name is Mykew Gregorovitch master wand crafter, how can I help you?" Lilly cleared her throat nervously before approaching the man,

"Greetings and good tidings sir, I'm Lillith Potter and I was informed by Lord Lucius Malfoy that you're willing to manufacture custom wands while leaving the ministries and-" her voice turned decidedly sour at the next part, "-Dumbledore in the dark when you create something truly unique." Now looking intrigued the older man nodded slowly,

"Yes I honestly have no loyalty to anyone who wishes to stymie my work for oblique reasons, namely the 'Greater Good,' Thor only knows what the hell that even means, I take it you have something to impress upon me?" Looking a bit more excited Lilly met both Dora and Sirius' eyes before responding,

"Indeed good sir, here are the materials I gathered," with that she placed the box she'd been holding on the counter and lifted its lid, looking down Mykew gasped as he looked down at the items in question before a deep bass chuckle escaped his lips.

"You do not do things by half measures do you young lady? Did you want it made in the ministry approved method or the way proper wands were made before the turn of the century?" Confused she was unintentionally cut off by Sally who asked,

"I'm sorry, what's the difference?" Turning to the girl before him he tilted his head a bit before responding,

"Before the 'Act Against Blood Magics' passed in 1887 all wands were custom made for their witch or wizard, once your materials were chosen the core was soaked in their lifes blood for a fortnight before being added to the wood base, once done a focusing crystal, stone, or other focei was placed in the handle bound by blood to the core. I learned how to replicate this procedure from...an heirloom I have long since lost, the end result is completely dependent on the witch in questions strength, and before you ask I can get away with making them due to our unshared nationalities." With that he rolled his eyes before continuing, "Wizards at large lack anything resembling common sense so that loophole will work better then anything." Lilly looked to Sirius who paused mulling his options, he knew that Gregorovitch was being truthful so he gave his blessing and nodded, Lilly grinned widely before turning to the gray haired man hopping in excitement on the balls of her feet.

"I want a proper wand, I want my partner to be as strong as possible," the wand crafter stared at her a moment before whispering to himself,

"You are a catalyst young lady, you will do terrible, yet great things..." voice raising to be heard by all he than smiled, "Very well than, I'll need a vial of your blood, the work should be done before the summer solstice," grinning like a mad woman Lilly handed her box of parts to the man along with a heap of galleons. He handed her a Gringott's supplied blood bowl, its very presence guaranteeing the blood she sacrificed was to only be used for the purposes she signed for, her respect for the wand crafter jumped at this added step, consummate professional indeed. Swearing as she pricked her finger with the offered knife Lilly bled into the bowl until Gregorovitch grunted and cast a charm on her finger sealing the wound, smirking Lilly curtsied lightly,

"Thank you for your time Master Crafter, may your days be long and filled with warmth," bowing in reply he smiled in return,

"And may your future be filled with fortune and peace young lady," the group left the building and thus began their month long city hopping rock tour, it honestly all seemed to pass in a blur, Lilly and Sally grew closer to Dora and the three girls made a game out of who could get Sirius into trouble with the various ladies he met and tried to woo the fastest. It felt like a bit of a cop out but really after the first week Lilly couldn't even remember most of the bands names, largely they covered classic rock songs or in the case of the Weird Sisters they _stole_ muggle songs and just rewrote a few lyrics to be magical. It wasn't until they arrived in Romania that things got interesting for the group, it ended up the last concert of their little tour neighbored the largest dragon preserve in the nation, grinning widely Lilly knew exactly what she wanted to do before they headed off to the states.

It honestly didn't take much pestering to get Sirius to agree to visit the Preserve, and Dora had needed no compulsion once she found out why Lilly was so excited to go; Charlie Weasely was currently working at said preserve and both the young woman and young girl had crushes on the stocky handsome dragon tamer. Lilly was chattering about this fact as they approached the Preserves main gates,

"I mean really, rugged good looks, light yet not disfiguring scarring, wild shoulder length hair, arms thick enough to punch out an irate dragon, he's..." Dora's eyes filmed a bit before she replied to her cousin,

"Yummy...oh so yummy..." both younger girls giggled at this as Sirius rolled his eyes before responding,

"As your godfather dear Lillith I expressly forbid you to even contemplate dating a man nearly a decade your senior, Marauder's prerogative and all that," Lilly blushed deeply at that while Sally chortled at her expense.

"I'm...blast it Sirius be serious for once! I'm not...GAH! I'm not interested in him like that, if you want to be concerned about someone be worried about dear Nymphadora here," With that her formally congenial cousins blue spiked hair shifted to the 'fires of hell red,'

"Do. Not. Call. Me. Nymphadora." Before the age old argument could take off the gates swung open and they were met by the man in question, grinning widely the mound of muscle known as Charles Weasley grinned in a manner reminiscent of the twins, immedietly putting Sally and Lillith on guard. He met all their eyes before focusing on Dora,

"Hello my friends! Welcome to the Romanian National Dragon Preserve, Nymphadora it's so good to see you again, and your arse is just as lovely as it was back at school, glad to know some things haven't changed!" Much to her groups shock Dora blushed and averted her eyes before replying,

"Great seeing you again Chuck, how have you been?" Before he could reply Lillith shouted,

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Pointing to Charlie she asked, "How the bloody hell did you," now pointing at Dora with her other hand she continued with, "get away with calling her by her full name without having a plague of locusts descend upon us?" Snickering as Dora blushed a bit deeper Charlie shook his head with a smirk gracing his lips,

"I won a bet, the stakes were high but the reward was _I_ get to be the only one who could ever call her Nymphadora and she had to accept that I would with no fuss, isn't that right Tonksie?" She mumbled something quietly as her hair shifted to a sallow yellow causing Charlie to laugh a bit more, Sally stared at him in awe before asking,

"What did you do to win that?" He had a dreamy look on his face as if remembering a wonderful memory,

"Ah yes, the broom closet on the second floor charms wing, you know to this day she insists she really isn't that flexi-" he was interrupted by Sirius who had grown a bit unsettled at the coming revelation.

"Oooookay enough of that, Charlie good to see you again, please, distract the women with dragons, please please please." Busting out into laughter he shook his head sending the shaggy red locks waving,

"Very well than, please follow me," the now very curious preteens, blushing woman, and exasperated Lord followed the Dragon wrangler up the beaten dirt path, as they crested the hill they all gasped as they saw fields of fire and giant winged reptiles snapping at each other. Grinning Charlie turned to the group, "Welcome to my home, now...any of you fancy riding a dragon?"


	17. Match and Wand Making

**This chapter manages to set up the couple Lilly runs to for help when puberty hits full swing as well as setting up the villain for second year, hope you all enjoy! As always please review, I know this is a bit shorter then normal but I'm a bit rushed at the moment, also I'm aware Welsh Greens are smaller dragons, ignore it for the story please I really don't care to hear any whining on it.**

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Lillith's joyful cheering could be heard in sync with Sally's terrified screaming as they rode behind Charlie upon the back of a Common Welsh Green dragon, the majestic jade reptile being one of the very few dragon breeds considered tamable despite their XXXX danger rating. Charlie turned his head aside to yell back to the young girls,

"Hold on tight I'm taking him into a barrel roll!" Sally managed to scream out "WHAT?!" just as the cackling redhead pulled the reigns taking the massive dragon into several spins, as the dragon was leveled out Lilly glanced back to her friend and realized she was just as green as the dragon they rode. Tapping Charlie on his shoulder she got the mans attention and jerked her thumb back at the sick looking blonde, smirking he nodded and brought the majestic creature into a slow corkscrew descent.

As the dragons clawed paws dug into the stony soil dragging itself to a full stop Sally undid her harness and hopped down landing in a roll, standing up shakily she threw her arms up in triumph,

"See that world!? I'm still alive, nothing can defeat Sally-Anne Perks!" Charlie snorted at the small girl as he hopped down and helped Lilly out of her own harness, the dragon seemed to take it all in stride. Sirius and Dora approached them smiling, the girls walked over to Sirius to discuss their ride while Dora sidled up next to Charlie, they stood there in awkward silence as the redhead removed the dragons saddles. After a minute of this Dora sighed her pink hair shifting to green,

"Charlie...I miss you," he paused then turned back to her with a forlorn look upon his face,

"I...I miss you too Tonksie...I really do, you were honestly the only woman I ever loved, I just...this is my calling..." Scoffing she kicked a stone as she cocked her hips to the side crossing her arms,

"So you're going to throw away seven years of friendship, five years of dating, and an engagement that _you_ instigated and then backed out of because you want to live in the boonies with a bunch of fire breathing lizards?" He stood up to his full height and glared at his ex for a few seconds feeling his Weasely rage building, then he just let it go, deflating he pulled his fingers through his long hair before responding.

"Dora...Merlin damn it I DO love you ok? I never stopped, but what am I supposed to do at home, follow my _mothers-" _he spat the title like a curse earning a quirked eyebrow from all three females and a knowing nod from Sirius, "demands that I get some dead end ministry job like my dad and hope some benevolent lord will pull strings to help me out of the hole I dug myself into?! Because those were my choices Nymphadora, a dead end career barely eking by with the woman I love making us both miserable or running away to actually make something of myself and enjoy my life!"

Dora looked like she was going to cry but he kept on with his tirade, "Do you know how respected I am? How self sufficient I've become? I don't need to rely on handouts or make my family suffer due to my own pride! That's the choice I was given Tonksie...be miserably happy or successful and lonely..." The pair stared each other down completely oblivious to the whispering trio behind them, eventually they both started as Lord Black coughed to get their attention.

To their credit they both blushed in shame for their little spat, Charlie's face matched his hair while Dora's hair matched her face, Sirius looked down to Lilly lifting a single black brow,

"You sure about this honey?" The ravenette nodded quickly and in a no nonsense tone stated,

"She's my big sister, and I like Charlie, it's just money I can always make more when I take over the world," nodding in agreement he ignored Sally's laughter and the confused stares of Charlie and Dora as he mulled things over. Eventually sighing to himself he turned back to the still fuming almost couple,

"So here's the deal, Lilly brought up the very real point that Britain has an ongoing problem with wild dragons, in fact there is an entire department of the ministry devoted to obliviating muggles that see them on a daily basis. With this in mind she's willing to devote her Peverell trust account to opening a dragon sanctuary somewhere on the isles and put Charlie in charge of it. Charlie will be able to do what he's good at and enjoys while being within apparating distance of dear little Dora, all while performing a public service that even Molly can't whine about, so what do you say?" The shocked pair exchanged glances and were about to argue when Lilly stepped forward,

"Look, my inheritance makes up 1/8 of Great Britain's entire GDP through investments and interest, I have my hands in almost everything thanks to the goblins and while I can only touch a fraction of that until I reach my age of majority I still have access to more than most people make in their entire lives. I love Dora, I like Charlie, and I think dragons are neat, this is win win, so stop being stubborn and bloody kiss already."

Charlie honestly considered this for a moment, he did miss his family, even his overbearing mother, and from what the twins were telling him Ron needed to be reeled in with a heavier hand than dad was willing to use. On top of those benefits, Dora...glancing to his now hopeful looking ex he gave her a sheepish shrug,

"Errr...if you're willing to give it a shot I suppose-" he was cut off as the projectile formally known as Nymphadora latched onto him and began snogging him senselessly, no one other then Sirius noticed Lilly pulling out a notepad and crossing out a line as she muttered to herself.

"And that's off the bucket list, next is getting Padfoot hooked up with a young witch and giving me cousins to play with...hmmm..." Suddenly going pale Lord Black came to the horrifying realization that he was completely out of his league.

* * *

Mykew Gregorovitch stretched out his arms, the aging joints popping in protest at the action, grimacing the master wand crafter had his work cut out for him for the next month it would seem. When he'd begun the blood seeping process on young Lillith Potter's wand core he'd been incredibly reserved about the whole process, he knew of only one wand that had a thestral hair core and nothing good had come of it. That being said he was a professional and did what he was paid for, so he took one of the two remaining ampules of blood and prepared the alignment ritual; the process was actually fairly simple, a sample of blood was poured over a runic basin and the category of magic you were most adapted to's rune would glow.

Simple, really, the problem he and all custom wandcrafters ran into over time was that most Witches and Wizards were shoehorned into one, maybe two fields of magic and it was ultimately a bit embarrassing for them to publicly admit. This of course is why he stopped testing them in person and chose to perform the test in private, when he got the results he'd than carve the appropriate Nordic focusing runes into the base wand. After this he'd do just as all his contemporaries would and filled in the runes with putty, sand and than finish it to make a single smooth piece that hid the users deficiencies.

He performed the necessary ritual and left it to finish as he went to get his morning coffee, he preferred the hot beverage made in the muggle way since it tasted much better, well the _modern_ muggle way he'd never figured out what the hell those Americans were thinking when they came up with the percolator. Really it was the same principle as tea, why on Earth would you bastardize your morning drink like that? Tossing a dash of cream into the mug he walked back into his workshop as he took a sip of the steaming brew which he promptly blew over himself in shock, the runic basin was glowing a deep crimson red.

Putting the mug down he rushed over and felt a migraine forming, out of nine runes eight were glowing a pulsing sanguine red, the only one not active was the rune related to divination which didn't surprise him in the slightest, he'd had _one_ woman in his entire life activate that rune and she was to put it nicely insane. Shakily stroking his beard he glanced to the blank stick of willow atop his work table and felt his resolve harden, this...this would be his magnum opus, his finest, final work, the thought brought a grin to his face.

It took well over a week to carve the eight sets of runes into the wand blank, after a thoughtful afternoon he took it upon himself to carve a series of interlocking Celtic knots along the shafts length wrapping around the Nordic control runes. It seemed fitting since the girl had an obvious connection to the culture with that terrifying Fey crystal, now _that_ step had him a bit worried but he'd dwell on it later. It took him some time but he finalized his artistic embellishment just as the thestral hair finished absorbing the girls essence from her donated blood, three days later the core of the wand was set.

Mykew gently picked up the violet crystal and rolled it in his hands, while he was unable to get a response from it he could feel the ambient magic coming off the piece of purple glass, shuddering at the thought of what he was creating he took the final ampule of Lillith's blood and poured it into the open hilt of the wand. Even as it overfilled and poured out the sides he did not stop until the vessel was empty, not a second later he tossed it aside and dipped the crystal into the open cavity, the reaction was instant.

The seven raw prongs of wood stretched and warped wrapping around the crystal gently as small offshoots interlinked forming complex knots along the length, as the sealing was completed the wooden finger laced around the butt of the crystal forming an endcap. As the glow faded he picked up the wand and starred at the cap with a dark grin, the image of a raven with its wing splayed and a serpent hanging from its neck hissing to the wind adorned the pale wood, there was not a single drop of blood on the instrument.

Taking his time he made a magical blackwash out of some kraken ink and filled in the Nordic runes and Celtic engravings, letting it dry he then cleaned the wand and stained it letting it sit in the sun for several days to cure. When it was finished he plucked the piece of willow up and starred at it grinning only as a proud father could, running his fingers up the crystal hilt down the engraved filigree to the wands point he began to cackle,

"Eat it Ollivander, I finally out did you!" With that he placed the wand in its silk inlaid cherry wood box and sent it off to its new mistress, the coming years were going to be truly interesting indeed.

* * *

The tour in America was much more subdued without Dora around, Lilly didn't even want to comprehend the laws of civility her big sister and Charlie were currently violating, that being said this new band from Seattle seemed interesting at least. As the tired looking blonde singer began strumming his guitar and yelling into the mic she found herself swaying back and forth embracing the lyrics, the man on stage then snapped her attention as he began yelling at a pair of rowdy fans who were feeling up a drunk woman. Not a second later the guards dragged the offending party away and the concert continued, she exchanged a knowing look with Sally and turned back to the stage, of all her friends only she and Hermione knew what had happened in her past, so Lilly accepted the silent sympathy with grace.

As the final song came to an end Lilly couldn't help feeling energetic as all get out, she'd bought an LP of the bands current album and pulled it to her chest reverently, without meaning to she apparated backstage, looking around in terror she went wide eyed as she recognized the singer of her new favorite band,

"Kid, what are you doing back here?" She let out a quiet meep and pushed the record before her, the blonde man snorted shaking his head lightly, "Ah, a fan eh? All right then." With that he pulled out a silver paint pen and signed 'Kurt Cobain' across the surface of her album, he ruffled her hair and walked away as Lillith apparated back to Sirius and Sally blushing brightly, Sirius looked like he was going to chide her before he looked down at the album in her hands. The fresh autograph and deep blush told him enough,

"Your mum did the exact same thing with Steven Tyler according to your grandfather, 'Toys in the Attic' I think the album was called...anyway are you girls ready to hit the town?" Grinning they both nodded and the rest of the late afternoon and evening was spent shopping and seeing shows, while the Seattle skies were overcast the whole day that meant very little to either of the girls, they'd both grown up in London for crying out loud. As Sally and Lilly passed out Sirius went down to the hotel lobby to get a drink, eventually a man in a brown sheriff's uniform sat next to him. After a time the man sighed and looked to the British Lord,

"You Sirius Black, Auror first class?" Pausing as his most recent drink touched his lips Sirius eyed the man suspiciously before he downed the glass quickly,

"Yes, yes I am, what is it to you?" Sighing the man ran his hands down his face before he responded,

"Look, the government won't do anything to stop it but a freaking coven of vampires up in Forks made off with my daughter and they've brainwashed her, they have her thinking they're vegans or some such tripe, you and I are both aware vampires need human blood to sustain themselves, there isn't any halfway. Anyway I was hoping an ex-star Auror could help a disgruntled sheriff with a twelve gauge save his daughter..." Downing the rest of his drink Sirius demanded the rest of the bottle as he stood up,

"Saving a damsel in distress? I'm always up for this kind of situation," grabbing the mans hand shaking it while he quirked a brow in question which earned him a laugh,

"Names Charlie, Charlie Swan, now lets go save my daughter from herself."

Lilly stretched out and eyed Sally as she sleepily mumbled about enslaving her inferiors, good mindset honestly, with that she hit the water closet and took a shower, beginning her morning exercises she was interrupted by an incredibly tired looking Sirius. The man in question stared at her a moment before asking,

"You don't think vampires are misunderstood and need to be treated with a nurturing hand do you love?" Brow furrowing in confusion she shook her head quickly,

"Err...no Padfoot, they're blood sucking jerks, why do you ask?" Smirking he fell on his bed before mumbling,

"No reason..." shrugging Lilly finished getting dressed and waited to late afternoon for their Portkey to take them home, after the stomach emptying trip they made it back to the Tonks home just in time for a party, _her_ birthday party it seemed. Damn, she really needed to remember that, all things considered she received many well thought out presents but it was the one from Uncle Remus and Aunt Bella that caught her attention. Staring at the round white egg in the incubation crystal she turned to the pair who grinned widely,

"Well love you seemed so entranced by our Emberscale when you were younger that we thought you'd like one of your own," the manically grinning ravenette stated happily, Uncle Remus nodded quickly in his assent,

"Quite, since you're a parselmouth as long as you're there when it hatches it will look at you as its mother, neat huh?" Eyes glowing in anticipation Lilly brought the crystal up to her face as she grinned widely,

"Brilliant," she whispered, her second year was going to be quite interesting... Unfortunately the rest of her summer holiday passed in abject boredom, it wasn't until Dora and Charlie kidnapped her for her annual Diagon Alley trip that anything interesting happened. Although...Lilly really wasn't comfortable remembering it really, as they entered Flourish and Blotts she was following her cousin past a group of middle aged witches when she felt a firm hand grab her shoulder. Before she could respond she was pulled to the side of a blonde man with a terrifyingly wide smile as he stated,

"As you can see the Girl-Who-Lived herself can not get enough of my stories, why-" he paused as his face turned white, the dagger against his throat didn't move a centimeter as Lillith growled out,

"Do. Not. Ever. Fucking. Touch. Me. Again." Backing away from the man and ignoring the camera flashes she turned and rushed back to her cousin, Dark Lady in the making she may be, but Goddess be damned this little incident scared the hell out of her.

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**I always found Lockheart creepy and he will continue to be so, anyway second year is coming next chapter, rejoice! (Also I love Nirvana and was too young to enjoy their early years so I lived vicariously through Lilly on this one) As always, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	18. Enter Luna

**Bit short but I loved where this ended, just so you guys know, silliness like Sirius little misadventure in Forks is reserved for the summer holidays, consider it a break from all the heavier goings on in Hogwarts. As always, PLEASE REVIEW**

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Lillith found herself burying her head under her pillow trying to hide from the embarrassment of what she'd done to that creeper Lockhart as well as the delightfully horrible new pains her own treasonous body was inflicting on her the past two days. Aunt Andi had mentioned the day following the confrontation that the incident had made front page news in the Daily Prophet and the small girl not wanting to deal with the fallout had avoided reading it at all costs. She had sulked in her room and slept through the day hoping for everything to go back to normal, sadly fate had decided to prove misery loves company by cursing her with an ailment that not even Tom could have helped her prepare for.

Lilly had awoken the following morning with the worst abdominal pains she'd felt in recent memory so it wasn't surprising that she hadn't noticed the sticky coldness around her legs at first. Half asleep she pulled the blankets back and blinked rapidly at what she saw before her scream of utter horror pierced the early morning quiet, it was only seconds later that Dora rushed into the room wand in one hand Glock in the other scanning for threats. When she saw the blood staining the girls nightgown and bed sheets Dora relaxed and gave her little sister a knowing shake of her head as Aunt Andi rushed into the room.

Thus began the horrifically embarrassing crash course in a young woman's menstrual cycle, thankfully fed up witches had figured out a potion centuries ago that removed all symptoms of said cursed event but the trade off was you had to suffer through your first cycle unaided. So currently the Dark Lady in training was moody, in pain, embarrassed, and had the strangest desire to crucio anything that looked at her crossly, seeming to sense this her family left her to her misery. Eventually Tom spoke up,

"_Love for crying out loud at least just read the blasted article, I know you feel like your body is rebelling against you but at the very least it can distract you for the time being,"_ silently wishing she could glower at her friend Lilly remained silent for a time. Eventually she huffed and pulled her head out from under her pillow before responding,

"_No one ever explained to me that I'd have to go through this, blokes seriously won out on the genetic lottery,"_ Tom actually laughed at that,

"_Dearest heart really, you may have to deal with the...messier issues but trust me puberty is no picnic for men, the cracking voice, the sudden need to bathe daily otherwise you'll smell like old quiditch gear, and the hair, Merlin be damned don't get me started on the hair. Not to mention suddenly finding the opposite gender attractive and have absolutely no idea why and having no clue how to handle it."_ Lilly mulled that over a moment before snorting,

"_Yeah ok, I guess that could be awkward, outside of being irritable due to the pain not much has changed for me...yet..."_ Tom 'hmmd' a moment before replying,

_"That being said you're avoiding what is really bothering you, just read the article, if it was truly bad news do you honestly think Nymphadora would have left the paper in here for you?"_ Rubbing her temples she let out an exasperated sigh before picking up the teacup resting on her nightstand, hitting it with a warming charm she sipped the chamomile brew while absently picking up the paper. Unfolding it she took a deep breath and read the headline;

_**Girl-Who-Lived, Unhinged Herione or Simply **_**_Vigilant About Personal Safety?_**

**_By E. Limus_**

_'While many may consider the Girl-Who-Lived's reaction to renowned Author and up and coming Defense instructor __for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Gilderoy Lockhart to be a bit on the excessive side this author is reminded of a muggle saying as he writes this article; 'A picture is worth a thousand words'. That being said dear readers I wish for you all to truly see young Lillith Potter and try to understand how she may have reacted negatively before we continue on and further examine the altercation in question'_

Eyebrows raising Lilly stared down at the wizard photograph and watched as a mini version of herself was cheerfully skipping behind Charlie and Dora when Lockhart's arm flew into the frame and dragged her to his side, the look of terror on her own face actually startled her. As Lockheart began rubbing her shoulder the look of utter abject disgust that crossed her face was unmistakable as the dagger was plucked from her belt and stuck to the blonde gits throat, she slowly backed away from the man and ran away.

"Damn...I didn't even realize that's how it had all gone down..." going silent she continued reading the article now honestly quite interested in what Mr. Limus had to say;

_What did you my faithful readers see? Myself personally, I saw a little girl happily following her guardians to buy her school supplies for the new term when a man she had never met before had grabbed her rather violently and pulled her to his side in a familiar fashion. Being a father myself I can't help but hope my own daughters would question this sort of overly familiar contact and I applaud our young saviors attention to her own defense, that being said-'_

Lilly stopped reading the article at this point letting the paper fall to the floor, this...wasn't what she had expected, when Dora had explained how so many witches had a rather unhealthy infatuation with the grinning berk she'd anticipated being publicly crucified, not being defended with a fair and unbiased hand. Laughing a bit she leaned back into her pillows and smiled widely,

_"Tom?"_ She asked with a bit a mirth, her friend sounded amused himself as he replied,

_"Yes love?"_ Sighing she rolled her eyes a bit before replying,

_"You were right...that helped,"_ Chuckling he threw out,

"_Of course I was right, I'm me,"_ with that he laughed a final time before going silent as she mentally stuck out her tongue.

After a rather uneventful couple of weeks with the Tonks (Aunt Bella and Uncle Remus had other obligations and Padfoot had returned to the States for some undefined business) it was soon September first, as much as Lilly loved her family she dearly missed her friends especially Hermione, so she didn't restrain her happy cheer as she broke her hold on Charlie and Dora once they reached Platform 9 3/4 to pull her bushy haired friend into a tight hug. Hermione returned with what Lilly had dubbed a 'Patented Hermie-Hug' nearly bruising the ravenettes ribs in the processs, the brown eyed girl soon began throwing rapid fire questions at her best friend.

"Lilly! How are you! What did you get up to this summer, I had ever so much fun with my parents we spent so much time in Paris this time, we even managed to get a tour of some of the catacombs! I read the article about you in the prophet what happened that made you pull a dagger on that man? I admit he's rather comely but if you found it necessary to-" Lilly just grinned widely at her friend as she continued on for minutes straight, Goddess she missed this as irritating as it could get at times. After promising to answer everything on the train Lilly bade her goodbyes to a tearful Dora and smirking Charlie as Hermione did the same for her parents, dragging their trunks up to the train they both strained getting them up the ramp when they heard a cough above them.

Glancing up the pair met the gazes of Blaise and Draco, both boys stepped forward extending their hands, Blaise spoke up first a wry grin on his face,

"Let me guess, half your personal libraries are in those trunks yes?" Both witches blushed lightly at this and coughed into their fists in sync which only had the boys laughing, Draco grabbed Hermione's trunk and Blaise Lilly's as they soon escorted the pair through the corridors. Draco turned back to address the pair of young ladies as he pulled a cabin door open and began manhandling the trunk into the storage compartment,

"Crowded train this term, it looks like there is double the firsties from our year, anyway how have you two been?" Smiling as she sat down with her best friends the four began exchanging stories of their summer adventures in earnest, after a time she felt her head rest on Blaise's shoulder and couldn't help but grinning, it honestly was the little things in life. Eventually Lilly nodded off but she awoke a short time later when the cabin door slammed open, opening her eyes her sleep addled brain took a few moments to absorb what she saw, Ronald Weasely stood in the threshold and sneered at the quartet of Slytherins in disgust, at his side was a small red haired girl in a pretty lavender sundress and woven hat. Lilly met her wide brown eyes and gave the girl a smile which she happily returned,

"Oh, nothing but a bunch of slimy snakes, come on Ginny we'll find another cabin," Draco looked irritated as he drawled out,

"Weasel, how many times does it have to be explained to you, snakes are not slimy," Hermione hummed in agreement not deigning it necessary to look up from her book or lift her head off Draco's shoulder as she threw out,

"Humidity is actually rather detrimental to reptiles, the constant need to shed their skin can meet several issues in damp climates, why most snakes are found in arid or otherwise dry regions unless they are aquatic in nature." Lilly could feel Blaise shaking lightly as he restrained his laughter, as Ronald gaped Lilly hopped up suddenly and approached the smaller redhead curtsying quickly than offering her hand, the girl responded in kind smiling nervously,

"Lillith Potter, these are my best friends, Hermione Granger, Blaise Zabini, and Draco Malfoy, it's a pleasure to make your aquintence miss...?" blushing brightly the girl looked like she wanted to skitter off to the shadows earning a raised eyebrow from Lilly but she did manage to grasp her hand before quietly stating,

"I'm Ginerva Weasely, please call me Ginny I hate my name," Grinning widely Lilly barked out a Sirius level laugh as she pulled the surprised girl into a hug,

"Ginny! Bill and Charlie talk about you all the time, Gred and Forge too, so glad to finally meet you I've known your dad for years as well, good man that Arthur, did you want to sit with us the rest of the trip?" Looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming train Ginny was saved from a response as a small blonde girl walked up behind her hooking her arm through the redheads leading her into the small cabin. The dreamy eyed girl smiled serenely as she guided Ginny to sit next to Draco as she herself took the seat next to Blaise, the girl said nothing as she pulled a copy of the Quibbler from her bag and began reading it ignoring the world around her.

Lilly met Hermione's confused gaze, glanced at the fuming Ronald, exchanged smirks with the bemused Blaise and rolled eyes with Draco before she broke out into gut splitting laughter, Hogwarts was going to be very interesting this year. Eventually Ronald left in a huff and after a time Ginny introduced the blonde,

"This is Luna Lovegood, she's got some rather...interesting ideas so some people call her Loony, I..." she looked pensive a moment before setting her jaw with a determined look in her eyes that Lilly honestly approved of, "I'd really appreciate it if you all didn't call her that, anyway her mum and dad run the Quibbler so she can get a bit political at times." Luna looked up from her magazine smiling a bit,

"Don't worry Ginny, if they don't believe me it's just the wrackspurts messing with them," Hermione looked at the blonde quizzically before stating in a tired tone,

"And what exactly are wrackspurts?" Before she could respond Lilly lazily stated,

"They exist on a similar but parallel plane of existence from us, they enter your mind through your ears and feed off the ambient energy of your magical core, tends to fuzzy up your thoughts unless you can counter them. Annoying as hell honestly, if you're trying to summon something from the Other World you have to properly ward against the little buggers or you're going to be feeling lethargic for months."

She huffed at that while rolling her eyes, "Only way to get rid of them is either thinking overly positive thoughts or having someone hit you with a full powered Patronus charm, you have _no_ idea how many experiments Auntie Bella and I had ruined by those invisible little annoyances." The cabin was quiet a for a moment as her friends stared at her in confusion, then she was suddenly knocked to the floor by a blonde projectile who cheered out happily,

"MINE!"


	19. Confessions in the Night

**As per first year second year is going to take a bit to fully get into gear but don't worry it'll be over quickly since I'm really interested in writing third and fourth year. This chapter is a build up of Lilly's relationship with Luna as well as establishing a relationship with some of the castles denizens that I have thus far largely ignored, oh and the wand thing, this is IMPORTANT.**

**Lilly's wand isn't some super death ray Deadly Hallow clone, it's just perfectly in tune with her magic and I looked at her journey acquiring it to be something like how a Jedi Knight has to build her own Lightsaber and the trials involved with it. Anyway I'm getting _maybe_ three hours of sleep after punching this one out so take care all, and as always REVIEW!**

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Lilly lay prone on the floor staring up into the most unique clear blue eyes she'd ever seen, the orbs were like glass containers holding back sapphire flames and the intensity of the stare was almost painful as they expressed something resembling joy. After a few moments she realized the small blonde was straddling her waist and her hands were currently pinned down by the younger girls thin fingers ergo her initial instinct of "_stab first, ask questions after you bury the body_" hit a dead end which was rather unfortunate for her ego since she heard all her friends laughing at her predicament. Blushing furiously she was about to ask the girl to sit up when Tom quipped,

_"__You know love I thought I had to wait at least another four to five years before I had to worry about you having a good looking blonde straddling you, something we should talk about?" _About thirty different emotions flew through her mind (and an equal amount of shades of red flitted across her face) in a quarter as many seconds as she eventually ground out,

"_Tom?_" Sounding completely unconcerned he responded,

"_Yes Lilly dear?"_ Mentally grinding her teeth she seethed out,

"_Sod. Off."_ She ignored his laughter as she focused on the still grinning girl on top of her, cranking her occulamancy barriers up to eleven she let out a calming breath as she asked,

"Luna? Could you please possibly let me up?" The blonde shook her head happily in the negative,

"If I let you go you could be taken away by an Umgubular Slashkilter and than what would I do?" Giving the smaller girl a cross look Lilly rolled her eyes as she huffed out,

"The only person stupid enough to keep one of those is Minister Fudge and it's locked up in his cellar," Luna let out an excited squealing noise at this which pretty much indicated that Lilly hadn't in fact helped her own situation in the slightest. Looking about she realized her friends and Ginny were all watching the proceedings with amusement with no attempts being made to help, wankers, Hermione was doing her best to remain stoic as she calmly stated,

"I do believe I warned you on more than one occasion that your fascination with the unbelievable was going to eventually lead you to an interesting end did I not?" Glaring at her best friend the heat of her stare was completely lost due to her position on the floor, sighing Lilly ground out,

"Just because you can't find them in a book doesn't mean they don't exist, and on that note we're witches that fly around on brooms and cast magic through wands how can you possibly classify _anything_ as unbelievable?" It was clear Hermione had lost interest in the conversation as she gave the ravenette a coy smile and lifted her book back up to her face, "Traitor" she mumbled out without any negative inflection, looking back up to Luna she gave the small blond an annoyed look.

Huffing she rolled her eyes as she stated, "Luna the floor is quite uncomfortable and I'm willing to talk to you about any fantastical creatures you can think up in so long as you're off me in the next ten-" in a blur of motion the small blonde was sitting next to Blaise giving Lilly a dreamy smile, "-seconds...o..k... am I in a Warner Brothers cartoon?" Getting blank looks from everyone but Hermione who was once again suppressing chuckles Lilly sat up and motioned for Blaise to scoot over, taking his place next to Luna she spent the next few hours talking about well...everything she and Auntie Bella got up to with the girl.

As the train rolled into the station Lilly's initial irritation with the blonde had dissolved into genuine affection, it ended up Luna's mum was one of the witches that corresponded with Auntie Bella and in a twist of fate one of the spells that Lillith had helped edit when she was ten had been Pandora Lovegood's work. Lilly didn't have the heart to tell the small first year that if her mother had actually attempted to cast that spell she'd likely have blown their house up, ignorance in this case was indeed bliss, that aside as they exited the train Lilly addressed both Luna and Ginny with a serious look on her face.

"Now, I'm going to be honest with you guys, there's going to be some friction between houses _but_ it doesn't matter where you end up I'll still want to be friends with you, heck my good friend Sally and my Godbrother Neville are in Gryffindor and I make it a point to spend a lot of time with both. Don't let your houses bully you, and if they ever, _ever_ lay a hand on you-" Lilly's eyes became slits and the two first years swore they saw an emerald glow through the heavy lids, "-let me know. I protect my own." Feeling oddly offset yet reassured they nodded as they took each others hand and followed the rest of the firsties to Hagrid and his fleet of tiny boats.

Hermione hooked her arm through Blaise's and Draco Lilly's and the quartet walked to the Thestral drawn carriages, Lilly took a moment to scratch the gaunt creature behind its ears before entering the carriage earning her a pleased whinny. Settling down Lilly rested her arms on the open window frame and let her head drop on them, watching the passing countryside she let a smile crawl up her face as the massive castle came into view, _her_ castle as matter of fact. It was good to be back, hopefully this year would be free of trolls and possessed professors though, that had gotten old quite quickly.

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Lilly sat in her dorm room holding the incubation crystal containing her emberscale egg staring at the semi translucent orb with a single minded interest, for some reason she knew the child growing in the ambient heat was going to be incredibly important to her future, she just couldn't put her finger on _how,_ much less why. Breaking herself from the near trance she'd been bound to for the past few hours Lilly placed the crystal on her bed stand and stretched a bit, she glanced at her clock and realized with a start it was well past two in the morning. Sighing she flopped back down on her bed and decided to process the past evening in an attempt to get _something_ resembling sleep.

Long short the sorting ceremony and subsequent feast held little interest to her outside of Ginny and Luna who had ended up in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectfully; after they'd all been dismissed she'd been haunted by this feeling that...that something was...wrong...that something game changing was going to happen in the near future. It was keeping her on edge and despite her natural ability to assess threats she couldn't bloody well figure out what was ruining her evenings rest, sighing in annoyance she dressed and then pulled her fathers cloak from her school trunk.

As the almost none existent weight of the invisibility cloak fell on her shoulders she let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as a strange sense of relief flooded her system. Wondering on that she pulled the cowl up over her head and quietly exited the common room, prowling down the ancient corridors of the silent castle she soon felt the feeling of unease from earlier release into the nights calm. Lilly contemplated raiding the restricted section of the library again for something to do when she heard a tapping noise, more curious than not she decided to cautiously follow the echoing sound.

The tapping honestly reminded her of the Morse code used by spies in Uncle Ted's World War II movies yet it drew her in regardless, eventually she arrived at a large door that opened into the castles inner gardens. Pushing the massive slab of fire hardened oak planks and well oiled iron straps aside the young heiress stepped into the foggy grass looking about in cautious curiosity, soon her attention was drawn to the source of the disturbance. Approaching the large black owl grasping a paper wrapped package in its talons she pulled her cowl down while fishing into her robes, offering it several treats that it quickly gobbled up the owl than offered it's clawed foot to the girl with a hoot after taking its fill.

As she leaned down and took the parcel the owl affectionately nipped at her ear as Hedwig often did earning it a giggle, hooting once again the massive bird took to the night sky and disappeared in the inky darkness, re-entering the castle Lilly pushed the heavy door closed before sitting cross legged on the cold stone floor. Taking out her knife she snapped the strings and cut a slit into the brown paper, sheathing the blade it was but a matter of seconds before the paper was shed from the beautifully stained wood box. Her fingers ran along the initials engraved into the beautifully adorned box, letting a smile crawl up her face as ambient magic seeped through the wood Lilly threw the brass catches swinging the boxes lid up in one smooth motion.

"Morgana, Merlin, and Maeve..." she whispered quietly as she looked down at the intricately carved stick of blonde wood recessed in the cushioned inlay, running a reverent finger along its length the violet crystal wrapped in the wands handle glowed faintly washing its light across her stunned face. Placing the box on the ground she pulled the wand, _her_ wand out and looked it over with a critical eye, what little she knew about wand lore told her that she had an abnormal amount of control runes but this really didn't surprise her; she'd after all known she wasn't normal for quite some time. Running her index fingers nail through the black stained Celtic knots adorning most of the wands free surface she began giggling to herself, desperately trying to stifle the sound in fear of drawing Filch or his bloody cat to her.

After regaining her composure Lilly wrapped her hand around the handle and pointed her wand down the hall while whispering,

"Serpantsortia!" She wasn't sure what to expect from the wand but the result pleased her beyond words, normally when she used her mothers wand there was a some resistance involved, not much but enough to be noticed and while it was amazing at charms work (and the Dark Arts come to think) it had some reliability issues when it came to transfiguration and conjuration. This wand had no such issues, the snake she'd conjured erupted from the tip of the wand and landed with a faint *plop* a few meters away, she hissed at the snake stay still and quickly vanished it, as she was about to stand a calm hoarse whisper spoke up from behind her,

"Impressive work young one," Lillith would really, _really_ like to say that she did not in fact jump a meter into the air and scream like a little girl, sadly she could not make that claim, looking around frantically to see if anyone heard her she held her rapidly thumping heart as she stared up at the gaunt face of the Bloody Baron. His black eyes betrayed no emotion but she did noticed a tick at the corner of his spectral mouth, taking deep calming breaths Lilly eventually whispered in return,

"That was quite uncalled for you know that?" Tilting his head ever so slightly to the side the ghost shrugged imperceptibly,

"I felt my commentary was necessary, I'd heard the other children speak of your skills but I didn't actually think you were a parselmouth, how droll," Lilly sniffed at that as she wordlessly vanished the paper wrappings still on the floor and scooped up the now empty wand box. Turning back to the blood spattered ghost she stared at his dead blank eyes for a few moments before replying,

"I'm a girl of many talents, if you don't mind me asking what are you doing following me around, or was this just a coincidence? Most of you lot have tried to avoid me after what happened to Binns," at this the Baron actually smiled, it was quite possibly one of the most terrifying things the young girl had ever seen and she hoped to never experience it again.

"What you did to Binns is actually what made me take notice of you, you're quite a bit like your mother, mudblood she may have been she was quite brilliant and tended to do what she felt was necessary to benefit herself. Quite Slytherin of her..." His eyebrows rose as Lilly's eyes turned black and her emerald irises began to glow killing curse green,

"Do not _ever_ call my mother a mudblood again you murderous traitor," the ghost actually floated back a bit eyes widening at the hatred and power in the girls whispered voice and more than a little unsettled that she knew of his greatest regret. "Where do you think I gained my parselmouth ability? Hmm? My mother was of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin, the last true heiress before my birth and far closer to the blood line of Salazar than Voldemort could ever have hoped to be. Now I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself in the future or I'll do things to you that will make you beg to go out like Binns had, good evening _Sir_." Pulling her cowl up over her head she marched directly though the stunned ghost who let out a startled gasp once touched by the invisibility cloak, he followed her progress from where he stood wondering what exactly Lillith Potter was.

Lilly was fuming in rage, "How _dare_ he call mum a mudblood, of all the nerve..." gritting her teeth she hadn't noticed that she had never released the power she'd gathered in herself so invisible or not it wasn't difficult for her new persuor to find the girl,

"I do believe that is the first time I've seen Roderick frightened, I owe you a thank you," looking up quickly the cowl slid from the ravenettes head as she met the appraising gaze of Ravenclaw towers ghost,

"Hello Grey Lady, I'm sorry but what do you mean?" Smiling sadly the elegant ghost motioned for Lilly to follow, curious she did so and was led into an abandoned classroom, closing the door she turned back to the ghost who was absently observing the dust caked shelves. Seeing that they had some privacy the Grey Lady drifted back to the small girl as she finally replied,

"Roderick, you know him at the Bloody Baron, not only did you stand up to him for your mothers honor you managed to hit him with his guilt, tell me what do you know of his crime?" Pointing her new wand at a filthy chair Lilly cast a cleaning charm at it and silently marveled at the ease with which she could cast her magic, sitting primly she began drumming her fingers on the desk top as she responded.

"Well, according to Salazar's journals the Baron was sent to go recover Helena Ravenclaw after she'd stolen her mothers diadem and ran away, according to the journal it was the only time he'd ever seen Rowena panic. He err...figured that her fear for her daughters safety made her act irrationally hence why she sent the Baron rather then say, Godric or Salazar himself since they both viewed Helena as family." The Grey Lady's brow furrowed a bit but said nothing so Lilly continued, "No one really knows what happened after he left but a time later Salazar wrote a rather scathing entry about the 'Bastard Baron' returning as a blood splattered ghost."

Lilly began playing with a loose lock of her hair suddenly realizing how incredibly tired she was but decided to finish sating the ghosts curiosity, "Well Salazar never out and out said what happened but if you read between the lines and take into account how fond he had been of the Baron before he left and how much he despised him as a ghost well...I can only assume he was directly responsible for Helena not returning." The Grey Lady stared at her for a few moments before a wry grin curled up the side of her face,

"How pray tell did you not end up in Ravenclaw?" Shrugging sheepishly Lilly gave her a wane smile in return,

"Err, my plans required I be in Slytherin, if Hermione had ended up there though I would have followed," the ghost nodded at that,

"Yes you two are quite loyal to each other..." seeming to come to a decision she settled in the chair next to Lilly before she continued,

"Uncle Salazar was furious with the Baron because you see Roderick was madly in love with me, and when I would not return with him nor grant him my love he murdered me in his rage, when he realized what he'd done he'd killed himself." Going bug eyed Lilly was unable to respond since The Grey Lady...no...Helena Ravenclaw continued, "I had no patience for relationships at the time, I was quite studious and spent my days researching, always trying to finally leave my mothers shadow and make a name for myself."

She let out a humorless laugh at that, shaking her head slowly she continued, "Well, I succeeded did I not? Every student sorted into Ravenclaw since my death will always remember me..." a melancholy silence filled the room and Lilly was at a loss as what to say to the brooding specter. Sighing she hopped off her chair and looked directly into the ghosts eyes,

"I'm terribly sorry for your loss, if I may ask-" Helena's expression turned to rage for a moment than confusion as Lilly continued "-why did you tell me about this? Obviously it makes you uncomfortable," Helena gave her an appraising look before responding,

"Because you remind me an awful lot of myself at your age, and if finally revealing myself to someone can potentially save a young girl from her own hubris, well, who am I to deny that chance? Plus scaring Roderick automatically put you in my good books," nodding thoughtfully Lilly made for the door, grabbing the handle she turned back and flashed the ghost a warm smile.

"Thank you Lady, I'll remember what was said tonight but I'll keep it to myself, I think you deserve that much," turning the handle she was about to leave when Helena quickly asked,

"Why didn't you ask about the diadem, why did you not ask where you could find it?" Pausing she gave the ghost an odd look,

"Stealing it led to your death, sure it would be intriguing if it actually did increase your intellect but all things considered I think it's best to let the past stay buried this once," nodding once to the ghost she exited the classroom and made for the Slytherin dorms, if she was lucky perhaps she'd get an hour or two of sleep. Just as she was about to take the stairs into the dungeons Helena appeared before her one final time,

"Thank you...for listening that is, if you ever need help with something please let me know all right?" Smiling in return Lilly waved it off then stopped mid-motion,

"Actually, if you could keep an eye on my friends Su Li and Luna Lovegood I'd really appreciate it," nodding once the ghost then faded back through the wall, not long after that an incredibly exhausted Lilly fell bonelessly into her bed and stared at her canopy for twenty minutes unable to sleep. Growling in frustration she stood up and approached Hermione's bed, she listened to the other girls light breathing for awhile then shrugged, crawling in next to her best friend she'd barely settled in when she felt an arm be thrown across her middle and was pulled into an unconscious hug.

Finding the warm embrace was exactly what she needed she absently cast a privacy charm on the curtains as blessed sleep finally took her to the realm of Morpheus.

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**Even if they don't end up together I find Lilly and Hermione's relationship to be kind of adorable, what do you guys think? Anyway next chapter should involve Helena cluing Lilly in on what the older Ravenclaw girls are doing to our wonderful Miss Lovegood and House Slytherin plotting to get rid of Lockhart in a unified action of self preservation. Toodles all, please REVIEW!**


	20. How Did You Get This Job?

**So here is an opinion, Chamber of Secrets isn't a very good book and with so much of it cut out for my take on the story it's a bit difficult to work with, I'm going to update as much as possible to get through it so we can get to my two favorites, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. So anyway, a bit of humor, a bit of forshadowing, and a bit of friends being awesome to each other, oh and a reference to one of my favorite music artists Voltaire, enjoy and REVIEW!**

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It said something about the nature of their relationship that Hermione didn't even comment on waking up next to Lilly the next morning, when the brunette girl looked down at her still sleeping friend she noticed the dark circles around her eyes and decided to let her rest a bit longer. Getting ready for the day she woke Lilly forty-five minutes later, the green eyed girl tried to rather unsuccessfully shoo the hands shaking her away but soon came to. Blinking rapidly she looked up at her smirking friend and groaned trying to grab a pillow to cover her head with, clucking in annoyance Hermione intercepted her while in the same motion pulling Lilly into a sitting position.

"None of that little Miss Potter, we've still breakfast and classes, what were you up to last night you look awful," giving her friend a glare whose effect was lost since she soon found herself letting out a massive yawn, scratching her chest in a rather unladylike fashion Lilly lazily twirled a finger in the air with her free hand.

"Love you too 'Mione, and I couldn't sleep, felt weird ever since we got back to the castle," perking up she donned what Hermione personally referred to as 'The Marauder Grin' as she reached into her sleeve and pulled out an intricately carved wand. Hermione accepted it as a thousand questions wanted to bubble out, unfortunately Tracey walked into the room looking at the pair quizzically,

"Have you two even left the dorms yet? Breakfast only has twenty minutes left," cursing loudly Lilly scrambled to get ready deciding to just throw on a fresh set of clothes having no time for a shower, after she and Hermione rushed to the Great Hall they had only five minutes to take their fill. Much to her confusion she saw Hedwig sitting on Luna's shoulder over at the Ravenclaw table glaring at some of the older girls, Lilly wasn't sure but she thought she saw some flecks of red on the snowy white owls claws and beak. Shrugging that off for later she accepted her schedule from her dad who whispered to see him after class and once nodding to him she went sprinting of to Herbology with her friends.

Even with her daily exercises Lilly was huffing and puffing as much as her friends as they reached the greenhouses, she felt a jab of guilt for causing the other three to be nearly late for the first day of class but none of them commented on it so she kept her silence for the time being.

As it turned out just like last year Lilly found herself wondering why a niche career demanded so much of the students valuable time, it didn't help that the nervous, off feeling she'd had since she'd arrived at the castle got worse as the class rolled on, she had to use her Occulmancy barriers just to stay calm under the influence of whatever the hell this was. She decided fairly quickly that after classes she was going to bring this up to Hermione, if anyone could tell her what the hell was going on with her head it would be her best friend.

After class Lillith could admit to not really being happy that they'd be dealing with mandrakes most of the term but she was at least pleased that she'd get to hang out with Sally and Neville a few classes a week. Double checking her schedule Lilly soon led Hermione, Draco, and Blaise to their DADA class, honestly after being taught by the Dark Lord last year Lockhart had some really big shoes to fill so she was a bit curious what the creeper had in store for them.

As they were approaching the staircase leading up to the next floor they were intercepted by a mixed group of fourth year Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's, immediately seeing the Weasley twins Lilly waved them over as their grins over took their faces. Walking with them was a rather comely looking brunette boy with a smile that could send a girls heart a flutter, luckily for all those involved the atmosphere was broken by George who threw an arm around Lilly as Fred did the same to Hermione pulling the two in close.

"Well if it isn't our favorite Slytherin's!" Fred announced happily, his brother nodded quickly as he continued their typical habit of stereo communication,

"No longer little firsties, oh how they grow so quickly!,"

"Indeed dear brother, we hear that you've met our lovely little sister,"

"And GinGin's already told us that you promised to look out for her even though our houses are rivals,"

"Quite vocally I may add, rather curious if she's crushing but regardless,"

"We'd just like to say on behalf of House Weasley,"

"That we truly appreciate the gesture," while her friends all looked like they were going to have a migraine in a few seconds Lilly and the mystery boy both grinned at the antics.

"Gred, Forge! How are most favoritist school aged gingers doing?" They shrugged in sync before Fred spoke up,

"We're good, already had to pry Ron away from picking a fight with one of you lot," he rolled his eyes in exasperation at this, "going to be a long year with that one, but we hear that you're responsible for Charlie coming home, even bribed him with dragons!" George nodded happily at this,

"And that you finally got him to take a serious shot at making things work with Tonks, always fancied her myself but don't tell Charlie I said that!"

"Oh right! Forget to mention mum wanted to extend her thanks for getting Charlie to move back home and, err...how did she put it dear brother?" Coughing lightly into his fist George dropped his voice into something _he_ might consider to be a feminine tone,

"'Tell that darling girl thank you ever so much for getting my little Charles to settle down with a proper young witch,' I believe was what was said," Hermione let out a laugh at that before looking about self consciously at the eyes falling on her. Blushing she started to stammer but Lilly grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze, throwing her friend a smile she continued unabated,

"Anyone who has seen that girls porn collection will know that she's anything but a 'proper young witch' and that's all I have to say on the subject," Lilly nodded in agreement before she inadvertently shuddered and muttered,

"Tentacles...ugh...never going to Japan," the boys eyed the two girls curiously but it was obvious no more information was forth coming, shrugging Fred and George gestured to the Hufflepuff at their side.

"This is Cedric Diggory, he's the seeker for the 'Puffs team and an all around good bloke, we all just came back from DADA and...ugh that's why we stopped to talk actually." Hermione and Lilly both turned to the tall boy and curtsied as one earning them a rather brilliant smile, Lilly was fairly certain she didn't blush and that was the story she'd stick to. Blaise and Draco simply nodded as they intoned,

"Charmed," Cedric looked the quartet over a moment before meeting Lilly's gaze,

"I hear you're going out for Seeker this year yourself, traditionally girls aren't allowed on Slytherin's team although there have been exceptions, how do you feel your chances are?" Lilly let out an unladylike snort at that while waving her hand,

"They'll do what I want or regret it down the line, I'm not in the habit of taking 'No' for an answer," nodding slowly Cedric gave her an analyzing look before smiling again.

"Well I hope to see you out on the pitch then! Anyway what these two wanted to warn you about is...err..." Fred cut in with a roll of his eyes,

"Lockhart is a git," George nodded enthusiastically at that,

"A complete tosser," Cedric rubbed the bridge of his nose slowly as he nodded throwing out,

"I truly hope none of you wasted money on his books," Lilly exchanged looks with Draco, and Blaise, as Hermione huffed a bit but they all shook their heads in the negative. George sighed at that,

"Lucky you, mum is infatuated with the dolt so we all got a set of the blasted things, they're not even text books they're just poorly written novels," Fred cast a tempus spell and seeing the time he swore.

"Sorry folks we're all going to be late unless we get moving now, take care my lovely little second years!" Cedric bowed to the quartet as he turned to leave as well,

"Pleasure to meet you all, until next time," as he walked away both girls tilted their heads to the side and sighed in sync, Hermione shook herself from her thoughts first and giving Lilly a gentle shove getting her moving as well. Blaise noted Draco's scowl at their antics with an amused smirk, people watching the next few years was going to be oh so much fun. As _the_ Slytherin's took their seats Lilly cheerfully waved to Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot who both smiled and returned the gesture, pulling out a few sheets of parchment, a quill and her inkpot Lilly patiently examined the room.

Immediately she felt Tom roiling in the back of her mind as he took in the literal hundreds of portraits and photos of the perpetually grinning man,

"_You know love, I have been accused of being a self centered narcissistic egotist on more than one occasion, but this?" _Lilly mentally nodded in agreement,

"_This blokes got you beat my friend, and don't you dare try to out do him or I'll find a way to exorcise you, there's only so much ego space in my head thank you very much," _Tom took a false whining tone as he replied,

"_You're such a spoil sport,"_ grinning in return she stuck her tongue out at him,

"_You know you love me,"_ Tom went oddly silent at this and she felt a weird warm feeling in her chest but it faded as she noticed the walking set of perfect white teeth making its way down from the second floor stairs of the classroom.

"Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award - but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

Cocking her head to the side Lillith over-rode her instinctual distrust and dislike of the man to sate her curiosity, she was aware of what such things did to cats but lucky for her she was a raven and her friend was a fox so the moniker need not apply.

"Professor, if you faced off against a Beann-Sidhe what aspect of the Goddess did you encounter, the young woman Badhbh, the matron Macha, or the hag Mor-Rioghain?" Lockhart froze and stared at her wide eyed as if someone had just walked into the room and slapped him in the face with a trout, odd that anyone who faced off the against the Morrigan's harbingers would...oh... Lillith's face hardened as he began to bluster some nonsense about charming the creature into submission. The Slytherin's and Hufflepuffs all gave her interested glances as if they were aware she knew something and was not at all happy that the peacock strutting before them did not.

Hermione grabbed her hand under the table and squeezed it hard breaking her stare down on the blonde pounce and turning to meet her friends concerned gaze,

"Lilly your eyes..." Realizing immediately what Hermione was getting at Lilly let out a slow breath and soon the energy she'd inadvertently been building up flooded the room causing several surrounding students to shudder. Draco and Blaise for their part simply turned to their nominal leader and each lifted a questioning brow, at any other time Lilly probably would have laughed at that but as things stood now... Turning her glare back at the Professor a very Snape like sneer curled up her lips as she spat out,

"Blasphemer," in disgust, Lockhart didn't hear her but most of the students did, much to her surprise while the muggle-borns (Hermione not withstanding, she followed the old ways just as she did) looked confused most of the Half and Pure-Bloods nodded in agreement looking at the man in a new even less favorable light. Announcing a pop quiz he handed out the parchments and a few moments later Draco snorted, Blaise sighed, Hermione growled, and Lillith gaped as they read the questions, almost all of them were directly related to Lockhart and his 'achievements' and personal tastes. Deciding that both Daddy and Sirius would approve of her next course of action she filled out the paper with glee.

Lockhart soon collected the papers and Draco failed to hold in a groan as it became clear the man fully intended on reading every quiz's answers out loud, it went from fangirl perfection to indignant tirade (she was fairly certain that one was either from Blaise or Hermione,) when he eventually got to Lilly's. It was obvious to her that the man wanted to cash in on her unwanted fame so he made it a point to single her out.

"Ah Miss Potter, my favorite color is actually Lilac, not umm... I'm not sure what these words are," incidentally it was Gaelic, and it read 'Death knows you stole and wear her knickers, and she's not amused,' not that he'd be able to read it obviously. "And my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil, not to err.. 'Ride a black unicorn down the side of an erupting volcano while drinking from a chalice filled with the laughter of small children and the blood and tears of my enemies...'" Looking up he met Lilly's gaze with concern as she grinned back at him,

"Sorry, Professor, that one is mine," coughing he nodded as he continued on, her answers were continually more ludicrous and most of the class was restraing their laughter as he reached the last question. This one annoyed her the most since it was incredibly self serving, because obviously the answer was 'Gildroy Lockhart' if you wanted full marks for the day.

"And, 'Who is your ideal role model?' Err...I'm not sure who Emperor Palpatine is but...anyway...moving on class!" He made a grandiose speech about the dangers of dark creatures and kept motioning to shaking cage covered with a tarpaulin, more curious than nervous what the idiot had decided to inflict on his class he swept the cloth back and...

"Cornish...pixies..." Susan drawled out incredulously, Lilly glanced to the redhead and suppressed a smirk, the girls guardian Amelia Bones had once killed three vampires and a werewolf in a dark alley on the full moon with a knife, a litre of kerosene and a length of piano wire so her unimpressed reaction was to be expected. As the rest of the class broke into laughter Lockwart flashed them with that horrifyingly bright grin once again,

"Well, we'll just have to see if you can handle these devilishly tricky creatures!" With that he opened the cage and chaos ensued, pixies were at their core creatures of mischief which automatically earned them points in Lilly's esteemed opinion, the problem was they were tormenting her friends and future minions and this was unacceptable. As she mulled over whether to protect her investments or conjure some popcorn an enraged snarl caught her attention as a fireball the size of a small auto blew across the room exploding against the wall, after the dramatic pyrotechnics Draco roared,

"DON'T. YOU. DARE. TOUCH. MY. HAIR!" And sure enough a swarm of scorched pixies bolted away from the disheveled and furious Malfoy heir, Blaise for his part did the most Blaise thing possible and had carved a shield rune into the work table. Lazily resting his chin on his hand the dark skinned boy watched the chaos unfold with a deeply amused look on his face, Lilly was woman enough to admit she was jealous of his precognition, although she wasn't a serial people watcher like her Italian friend tended to be. She noticed both Carrow twins had followed his example and appeared to be having a rather amiable conversation with Ernie Macmillan as they shared a bag of sweets watching the chaos unfold, Ernie noticed her staring at them and gave her a jaunty wave that Lilly quickly returned.

Daphne for her part fired a reductor curse through the door and was soon followed by Tracey, Theodore, Vincent, Gregory and the vacant eyed Pansy, Millicent was being swung across the room along with a Hufflepuff boy, Hermione met her eyes and gave her a pleading look.

"Please do something Lilly..." The girl in question was a bit torn, the chaos was incredibly amusing and the pixies were currently tearing chunks out of Lockhart's hair, on the other hand _Hermione_ asked her to do something about it and...ugh...

"Ok ok, freezing charm on three, ready? One, two, three!" The pair of witches hopped up and cast the charm causing the pixies students, and professor to fall to the ground with a thump. Sighing Hermione rubbed her eyes a bit as she tried to ignore Blaise and his riotous laughter, after a time the boy calmed down enough to begin scribbling into a notebook,

"Oh this is going back home, so you girls want to help me get Draco out from under those desks and get lunch?" It was going to be a very long year...

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**Thought I'd include Lilly's answers just as a bonus**

**What is Gilderoy's favourite colour? **In Gaelic:Death knows you stole and wear her knickers, and she's not amused

**What is Gilderoy's Lockhart's secret ambition? **Ride a black unicorn down the side of an erupting volcano while drinking from a chalice filled with the laughter of small children and the blood and tears of my enemies

**What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date? **Tying his shoes without getting his fingers caught

**How many times has Gilderoy Lockhart won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award? **Less than Sirius Black, poser

**In his book Break with a Banshee, how did Gilderoy Lockhart bravely banish the Bandon Banshee? **Posturing caused the Morrigan to laugh so hard she forgot why she sent the banshee there to begin with and went home

**Which is Gilderoy Lockhart's best side for photographs? **Under his boots in a dark cupbard on a new moon

**Has Gilderoy Lockhart ever won the Dunstable Dueling Championship for wizards or just been pipped at the post? **No, you have to be able to hold your wand correctly to cast a cleaning charm much less a dueling art, prat

**Which product does Gilderoy Lockhart use to clean his teeth with to achieve his famous dazzling white smile? **Hopefully undiluted bleach and peroxide

**Which is the person name which Gilderoy Lockhart has given to his broomstick? **Albus Dumbledore, work the shaft you dirty bitch


	21. Oh So Many Minions

**After this we'll be jumping to quiditch tryouts and straight to Halloween from there, I didn't mean for this to be so dialogue heavy it just happened and if it got much longer it would have felt stilted so I hope its quality meets all your standards. As always, REVIEW!**

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After sifting through the wreckage that had been the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom Blaise, Hermione, and Lilly eventually found their blonde friend who was currently scowling at his badly tossled hair in a compact mirror. Even as they were nearly half way to the great hall Draco was still playing with it muttering oaths of a blood feud between Houses Malfoy and Lockhart, Lilly rolled her eyes at this and calmly ignored it until they were passing a lavatory. Grabbing the startled boys hand she dragged him in after her and was quickly followed by her other two friends, Draco looked about a second before asking in a very tired tone,

"Lilly...why are we in a girls lavatory?" Grinning she pushed him to one of the sinks and turned on the hot water, gesturing towards it she replied,

"Wash the gel out, now, I'll take care of the rest," he eyed her a moment then sighed, it was kind of amusing how he didn't even resist her orders anymore, Tom had been right pet Malfoy's were quite malleable. As he did as ordered she turned to her partner in crime,

"Hermione can I borrow one of your hair care potions and a comb?" Scowling she of the bushiest yet somehow tamed hair met her eyes and after a brief stare down broke contact when Lilly flashed her a brilliant smile.

"How do you know about that?" She muttered as she began digging into her school bag, Blaise let out a light chuckle at this,

"Your hair has a very distinct and quite pleasant aroma, my mother uses a similar product but I'm sure it's just as effective," sighing in defeat Hermione handed the bottle over to Lilly as Blaise offered a comb. Lilly stared down at it for a second and shook her head,

"Should I be surprised you carry that around, no no don't answer that, of course I shouldn't be," turning away from the smirking boy she approached Draco who was just pulling his head out of the sink. Throwing a few light drying charms at the sopping mess of hair she dipped the comb in the potion and began brushing it through her friends blonde locks he was scowling a bit but stopped as Lilly snapped out at him.

"Really Little Dragon I've _seen_ the literal library of hair care spells Uncle Luc and Aunt Cissy keep in their room why don't you know any of them?" He let out a withering sigh and tried to drop his head but Lilly quickly grabbed his chin and jerked it straight again so she could continue her ministrations.

"Because they're family magic, Malfoy's are part ancient elven much like the Lovegood's and Abbot's, not enough to you know...matter but just the drop that's still in there lets us access some very old beauty magic. I'm not allowed to look at any of that until I come of age...or sneak it out, which is very difficult since Father and Mother can be..." Lilly quirked a brow at that,

"Terrifying?" He smiled fondly and nodded earning him another reproach for moving his head again,

"Quite," Hermione spoke up then,

"Never heard you mention Family Magic before, is this one of those things that muggle-borns are excluded from?" The two pure-bloods and half-blood turned to their friend but Blaise was quick to placate her,

"Actually it's one of the reasons people so look down on them, or rather they did when arranged marriages were still the norm since it meant they had nothing to offer magically. See family magics are what they sound like, magic that only the family gets to learn, in truth anyone can use it if they learn it, but the bloodline that created the spells has a better affinity for it. Plus, there's a desire to keep such exclusive magic secret, if for no other reason then to make your family appear more powerful." Lilly nodded quickly as she turned back to Draco earning her a squeak as she pulled the comb through a rather nasty knot of hair.

"Malfoy's are known for their beauty magic, Zabini's for their warding, Potter's for transfiguration, Black's have Dark Arts, Slytherin parsel magic which incidentally I'm seriously considering using on Lockhart, and it goes on like that. There's some pretty nasty magic bound to the tomes the spells are contained in so you can't share it with anyone but your spouse or other members of your family so we all tend to keep quiet about it so we don't accidentally curse ourselves." Finally finished she admired Draco's shoulder length hair a moment before Hermione spoke up again,

"Cute, looks untamed but still dignified, and...thanks for letting me know, but how did I get to read the Slytherin grimmoire you gave me for Yule if it was family magic?" Smirking she led the group out of the loo (secretly pleased that Moaning Myrtle hadn't made an appearance) as Draco replied,

"Does it look better then Diggory's? Err..and that was actually from the both of us, technically speaking Lilly and I are related however distantly but I'm not a parselmouth obviously, so she dictated the tome to me and I wrote it out for her. Trick my mother picked up, sometimes wizards just don't think of mundane ways to bypass magic, and it was win win for me really, I got to help you two out _and_ learn some rather interesting spells." Throwing Draco a fond look Lilly shook her head slowly,

"You're just as vain as Uncle Luc, and yes you look better then Cedric, although I have a thing for longer hair so who knows I may be biased," turning away she hooked her arm through Hermione's and took lead of their little procession. Blaise gave Draco a knowing smirk at the blonde boys pleased smile as he spoke just loud enough for him to hear,

"She'll break your heart you realize?" Scowling again his silvery eyes slitted in annoyance as he muttered,

"I have no idea what you are referring to Zabini..." chuckling Blaise rolled his eyes as the girls pushed the Great Halls doors open,

"Right Draco...right..." upon entering the hall a blinding flash overtook the group and it was all they could do to not fall over as they all blinked rapidly, as this was happening a squeaky and very excited voice chirped out,

"Hi I'm Colin Creevey! The other Gryffindor's have told me so much about you! About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you, and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead and-" As he regained his vision Blaise tuned the camera totting boy out as he stepped to the side to observe Lilly, this ought to be good.

Lilly for her part was staring down the small first year with an incredulous look on her face, sure she was on incredibly good terms with a few of the Gryffindor students but for the most part she was under the assumption they hated her just as much as the rest of her house. Filing away this unexpected loyalty for later use she appraised the boy for a moment,

_"I suppose he could make for a decent minion, if nothing else he could take a killing curse meant for me happily, thoughts?"_ Tom shrugged,

"_I personally think being friendly with four Gryffindor's is more than enough but on that note cannon fodder is never really wasted in so long as the live up to their purpose,_" nodding in return she flashed a wide smile at the boy who looked unduly pleased at garnering that kind of response. Gryffindors, really.

"Hello Colin, enjoying Hogwarts so far?" Nodding enthusiastically he swept his free hand out gesturing to the open hall,

"It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Professor McGonagall, mum was so happy I wasn't actually the spawn of Satan, which I'm pretty happy about as well come to think of it. I was really getting tired of her trying to drown me in holy water." Trying her best to not laugh when she should be horrified Lilly coughed lightly into her fist,

_"Huh...think I may be more broken than I suspected,_" Tom snorted at that,

"_You're a Dark Lady in training love sociopathic tendencies are part of the package, just play it cool and don't let anyone know you don't actually care and it'll all work out_," not all that sure she was comfortable not caring about people she gave Colin her attention again.

"That's ...great... so look you're a bit of a shutter bug yes?" He nodded happily so she gestured to her friends who were all wearing mixtures of concern and amusement on their faces, "Well I only have a few pictures from last year and it kind of bothered me so how about we come to an arrangement. You take as many photo's of us as you like and in return I pay you for your services, trade off is I get to decide what enters circulation, that sound fair?" Suddenly serious Colin gave her an appraising look,

"Two sickles for group photos, one for singles, if you keep me on retainer at say, four galleons a week plus another three a month for supplies I can wave the nominal charges," at this he'd suddenly gained the attention of the bored looking Draco and Blaise as Hermione raised a brow and quirked a half smile. Lilly stared him down a moment before chuckling, turning to Draco she drawled,

"And _that_ is why you never underestimate muggle-borns," Draco muttered something about figuring that out the first time he pissed Hermione off but it was largely ignored as she turned back to Colin and offered her hand. "Three galleons a week and two for supplies, oh and if I need you for a special occasion we can negotiate fees but we'll leave the baseline at five galleons per event, sound fair?" Colin eyed her a moment then grinned quickly taking her hand,

"Pleasure doing business with you!" As the small boy left them and approached the Gryffindor table she heard Ronald spit out,

"Why the hell were you talking to those slimy snakes Creevey, they're pure evil and hate muggle-borns like you!" Much to her surprise she heard the first year snap back,

"Shut it Weasely they're my clients and they can hate me as much as the want so long as they pay me, close your mouth when you eat, god..." Exchanging a look with Hermione who was openly grinning Tom spoke up contemplatively,

"_On second thought...he may not be cannon fodder material after all..." _After finishing lunch Lilly walked over to the Ravenclaw table and sat primly next to Luna who was talking amiably with Su Li who greeted her cheerfully,

"Hiya Lilly, how was your summer?" Shrugging a bit Lilly eyed Hedwig who was sleeping on top of Luna's head, the blonde seemed completely unpeterbed at this,

"It was great actually, got my wand made and got to see a bunch of bands across the continent and the colonies, oh and my godfather cleared out a nest of vampires and saved a girl from them, apparantly she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome though so she wasn't really thankful for it." Su nodded at this as she absently wrote out something on her notepad, most of the Ravenclaws had followed Hermione's example of carrying around the muggle item due to its compact nature though Su was the only one Lilly observed using a pen rather than quill.

"That happens sometimes depending on the type of vampire, the ones typically found here in Britain are a docile sort but they tend to be rather ugly so they don't live up to the romanticism of the books." Lilly nodded at that as Luna chirped out,

"The pretty sparkly ones are the weakest, they can walk around in sunlight but they shine so brightly that any competent archer can take them out, but they're really rather good at drawing in stupid weak willed girls," she shrugged lightly disturbing Hedwig enough to wake her, the owl blinked and noticed Lilly for the first time. Clacking her beak she hopped off Luna's head and onto Lilly's shoulder, lightly scratching her familiars head Lilly turned back to her friends,

"So I've got to ask, what's with Hedwig and you Luna?" She smiled happily at that as she finished her pudding before responding,

"Well I was excited about meeting you and I was talking to some of my housemates about what we discussed when some of the older girls began harassing me," Lilly's eyes narrowed at this but didn't say anything at the moment. She'd ask Helena for names later, Luna was hers, and no one, _no one_ messed with what was hers, "And that's when Su here told them to back off, it was surprising, I thought perhaps she'd been suffering the affects of wrackspurts since no one has done that for me before but it made them leave me alone for a time." Su for her part looked up from her writing and quirked an eyebrow,

"Wrackspurts?" Lilly took lead at this,

"Don't worry they shouldn't bother you unless you've been summoning demons lately, you haven't been summoning demons have you?" Su gave her a tired look and shook her head,

"No no, mum wanted me to this summer, family tradition and all but after your horror story after the chess room it kind of lost its appeal honestly," nodding Lilly turned back to Luna who was currently staring at the ceiling, poking her shoulder the girl continued as if she'd never stopped speaking.

"I decided to go write daddy and tell him about you and when I got to the owlery the older girls had followed me, when one of them pushed me down your owl swooped in and attacked them, she was quite heroic," glancing to the owl in question Headwig looked rather pleased with herself as she nodded once. "After I woke this morning and left the common room she just flew to me and spent the rest of the day beside me, some of the professors were rather annoyed but Professor Snape seemed quite amused and didn't pick on me like he did the other Ravenclaws." Lilly had to resist snorting at that, ah the joys of nepotism,

"Well I'm glad Hedwig took it upon herself to protect my inves-friends, speaking of Professor Snape he wanted to meet with me so you two take care now," waving her goodbyes as Hedwig left her shoulder and reclaimed her spot on Luna's head Lilly soon found herself at her dads office, knocking on the door she waited a few moments before it unlocked. She was quite surprised to see that Professor McGonagall was also in attendence, closing the door she shifted from the relaxed posture of a girl who hadn't seen her dad in three months to that of a simple student, she was a bit nonplussed as McGonagall began laughing.

"You were not joking Severus, she slips the mask back on as if it was nothing," now more confused then she'd like to admit Lilly turned to her dad who just smiled knowingly...wait dad only smiled around her or when a Gryffindor did something to get themselves hurt...the hell was going on.

"Quite, she is after all my pride and joy," blushing at the complement but not losing sight of her goal the girl in question asked,

"What's going on Professor Snape?" To her shock McGonagall laughed,

"Are you always so formal with the man that raised you?" Eyes widening in horror Lilly rolled and took cover behind cabinet ejecting her mums wand from her wrist holster as she yelped,

"I'll supply cover fire while you try to stun her!" After a few moments she noticed no one else was moving, slowly moving her head to get the adults in view she saw they were both still in there seats looking bemused,

"I see you were not joking when you said she was trained by the Black sisters, I haven't seen that kind of dive since young Andromeda attended my classes," Snape nodded knowingly,

"She's quite the terror, both she and Hermione took to the 'Black Dance' well, it helped that they both were already attending traditional dance classes beforehand mind you," standing up and sticking the wand back into its holster Lilly rubbed the bridge of her nose as her voice ground out through gritted teeth.

"What. Is. Going. On?" Snape finally decided to quit teasing the girl as he gestured towards McGonagall,

"Lilly I'd like to introduce you to your Great-Grand Aunt," pausing Lilly felt her brain come to screeching halt, she couldn't help her automatic response, while she buried the trauma of her early childhood well it would always be part of her and so it was no great surprise when she coldly stated,

"If I had a magical relative why the _fuck_ did I get sent to those goddamn muggles?" Ok, no points for eloquence today, thankfully for her both Professors looked sad and in McGonagall's case ashamed after she stated this, fidgeting the teacup in her hands the aged Deputy Headmistress sighed slowly before she replied.

"Lillith...you have to understand that during the last war the _only_ hope anyone had was Albus Dumbledore, he was a hero of the last war and a beacon of light in the darkness, so when he said something was for the best we all believed him. I...I watched the Dursley's before he left you with them, and I argued adamantly that their _own_ child shouldn't be left in their care, much less you. I...I gave up the argument quickly and hadn't thought about it once until the day I saw you leave the docks when you first came to school..." Lilly was about to snarl a rage laced retort when the more logical part of her mind shifted the older woman's words about, sighing she plopped ungracefully in the only open in chair.

"He obliviated you..." McGonagall nodded slowly,

"I'm sure he'd have tried it again when we all confronted him your first evening here but he would have had to incapacitate all four of his heads of house and that was simply not going to happen. Pamona and Filius are accomplished professional duelers while Severus and I are both war veterans, so he let the matter drop and we play acted obedience for the time being. I...did not act on the information I gained simply because I know that your current guardians will look out for you always..." She sighed and suddenly looked decades older than she really was, "I just hope you can forgive an old woman for not being strong enough to protect you..." Lilly remained silent for a few moments, she glanced over to her dad who gave her a knowing look and a very subtle nod. Mulling it over she came to a decision,

"Aunt Minerva, I...I forgive you even though it's not really your fault, you fell in the same web as everyone else, including my parents...so...if it's all the same I'd like to get to know you better," smiling and now openly crying the stern professor let out a light laugh,

"Please dear when we're alone call me Aunt Minnie, your father always did," feeling a warm tingle overtake her Lilly couldn't help but smile back,

"Ok...Aunt Minnie..."

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**Next chapter, Quiditch, Slytherin coming to Lilly for advice on how to kill Lockhart, and finally finding out what that weird feeling is, hope you enjoyed, as always REVIEW!**

**P.S. I hope you lot like what I did with Colin, it's going to be rather fun.**


	22. Of Eagles and Spiders

**This will likely be the most quiditch is talked about in this story unless there is an uproar for anything different, I don't care about the sport in the slightest and I'm shocked I was able to get this much out, anyway, more Luna goodness this chapter, enjoy and REVIEW!**

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Quiditch tryouts at Hogwarts were a mixture of fanaticism and tradition, Lilly herself really didn't care about the sport one way or another but the prestige gained from holding a position on first string could only benefit a witch later in life. So it was with that thought she sleepily made her way to the pitch being shadowed by her three friends, both she and Draco holding their Nimbus 2001's over their shoulders hands lazily resting over lengths of wood. As the group exited the castle they could already hear the cheers and jeers of their fellow students as the beaters fought for this years position.

"You know-" Hermione began as she watched a boy get knocked from his broom by a bludger and landing in a heap, "-this is honestly one of the most violent sports I've ever had to watch, and I've been to some of my dads Rugby match's." Lilly nodded feeling a bit queasy, sure she was no stranger to violence but the idea of having a limb shattered several dozen meters in the air and falling to her death was just...unsettling. Draco being a typical boy only nodded with enthusiasm,

"I know right? Can't wait for the chaser tryouts, although it looks like we already missed the keeper and most of the beaters, honestly you two take far too much time to get ready to go out." Both girl turned to the blonde with mirrored incredulous looks,

"Did...did you just make a joke about women taking too long to get ready while at the same time being a Malfoy?" Lilly asked as she cocked a hip to the side resting her hand on it, blushing Draco muttered something that was lost as they heard a loud "OY!" bellowed from across the pitch. Turning they recognized the hulking frame of the team captain Marcus Flint as he strode towards the group, Lilly actually rather liked him he wasn't all that good looking sure but he was very intelligent and used that keen mind in an odd way.

Marcus was at his core a Quiditch junkie, he really didn't care about much else so he'd been arranging his grades to allow him to keep playing no matter what, talk was he'd actually managed to get himself held back a year just so he could stay and play longer. This was...a dubious goal in Lilly's opinion but she gave him points for audacity, plus he never even sneered at Hermione much less called her a mudblood so he was already in her good books for that alone. Stopping before them he crossed his arms scowling, he eyed Lilly up and down a moment before nodding in satisfaction, there was no leering involved just...appraising.

"Well, you're thin and muscular enough to make a better Seeker then Pucey, and lucky you he doesn't even want the position he was just the only one available who could pull it off, he really wants one of the open chaser positions." Turning to Draco he lifted his brows in question as he gave the uncomfortably shifting blonde a bland smile showing off his snaggled teeth, "Your daddy isn't buying your way on the team Malfoy, just to let you know. That being said good luck, we still need two Chasers since they graduated last year, quitters..." That last bit had been muttered but Lilly had heard it and by her quiet snort so had Hermione.

Nodding to himself tryouts than began in earnest, Flint lifted the lid to a thin case and launched a dozen golden snitches into the air while announcing to the gathering of would be Seekers, "You have five minutes to collect as many as you can, the top three will then compete, then the top two, and so on, BEGIN!" A half hour later it had been down to her and Pucey, and she'd collected nine to his three, Flint walked up to her and with a tear in his eye he lifted the slight girl into his arms and gave her a crushing hug. "We're never going to lose, never! Where have you been all my life!"

"Err...can't...breath..." She gasped out, the muscular captain let her drop down and gave her a very brief sheepish smile before recomposing his features, he coughed into his hand before giving her a manly pat on the shoulder.

"Well, Potter you're on the team! Pucey, get in line with the other Chasers!" The boy in question grinned and jogged over to the rather largish gathering, an hour later both he and Draco had taken up the open spots. Flint went into great detail about their rather insane training schedule but alas what can one do when they signed up for the asylum in the first place. Draco of course was on top of the world but well, he was a boy, it was to be expected; she heard from Sally-Anne a few days later that she'd made it onto the Gryffindor team so at the very least she knew there was competent competition on one of the teams so that was something at least.

The weeks rolled by and Lilly soon found that after every DADA class her house mates would be staring at her expectantly, they were obviously waiting for her to snap as she had with Binns but really Quirrell had been awful at first too so she decided to give him until Samhain before she made any decisions on whether he should die or not. Although...the man handed out an inordinate amount of detentions and for some reason that didn't sit well with her, she'd have to keep an eye on that.

The unsettling feeling Lilly had felt since arriving back at the castle only got worse, Hermione much to her own consternation had not been any help for once since she had no idea what was causing it but really, it was becoming distracting. Lilly had taken to spending a rather largish amount of her time under her invisibility cloak since it seemed to cut it off, this of course led to her getting into a bit of mischief here and there but she figured she was just living up to her Marauder heritage and didn't think too much of it.

A week from Samhain she got a rather unexpected visitor as she was rigging a paint can above Filch's door, say what you will about her not being a full time prankster, she didn't forget him nearly getting her killed last year.

"Lilly," pausing, she looked about for a moment then glanced up, pulling her cloaks cowl down she smiled at the Gray Lady,

"Hello Helena, how are you doing tonight?" The ghost smiled at her a moment before nodding,

"I am well but one of those you put in my charge is currently being harassed, if you'd follow me?" Scowling Lilly pulled the cowl up and shifted into her animagus form which incidentally Hermione had named 'Quill', she rather liked it but had as of yet come up for one for her best friend. Taking flight she followed the ghost through several halls until they entered a rarely used corridor, turning the corner she saw three older girls taunting poor Luna who was on the floor crying wrapped in conjured ropes.

"Merlin you're so bloody stupid Lovegood, you're supposed to be a Ravenclaw not making shite up," one of the girls sneered. A slightly younger one, Cho Chang if she remembered Su Li's descriptor correctly cast a stinging hex at Luna's cheek causing a welt to form on the small girl her teary eyes widening as she cried out in pain. The taunts continued for a moment as Lilly felt her rage build up, focusing herself she felt the familiar rush of power as she drew in the magic surrounding her.

Flying behind the girls she dropped the invisibility of her cloak as she landed, Luna's eyes focused on the bird in confusion and much to her sadness, hope; as she shifted back to her human form and threw back her hood the small blonde smiled widely. Lillith's ability to feel mercy for her new playthings disappeared as she saw the girls bloodied teeth, ejecting her Fae Wand from its wrist holster she crossed her arms and cleared her throat.

As one the three girls turned around, it said something how little some paid attention to gossip as they immediately began sneering at the petite ravenette, as they began nattering and gesturing with their wands Lilly finally had enough.

"Silence," the three actually stopped talking looking shocked that someone so young was making demands, she idly wondered if these three even realized who she was, at the very least they didn't care. Glaring at the girls Lilly continued, "You're bullying of one of mine ends now," with a quick jerk of her wand the ropes around Luna dispelled and she summoned the girl to her. Gently levitating the blonde down beside her the girl rushed over and grabbed onto Lilly's free arm, Cho growled out,

"What the hell do you care about Loony for, she's an embarrassment to our house and you can't protect her all the time," Lilly eyed her quietly a moment before shaking her head sadly.

"You know I never quite understood bullying; intimidating, torturing, or killing those in your way? Sure that all has a time and a place," at this all three girls looked a bit disconcerted, "but going out of the way to pick on those who simply want to be left alone to make yourselves feel better? Hell, that's just Death Eater levels of pettiness there, so lets make something clear, Luna is one of mine, and no one touches my things, next time I'll not be so forgiving."

As she was about to turn and leave the third girl who hadn't said anything so far threw a hex at the pair that Lilly quickly deflected into the wall, eyes shifting into emerald laced obsidian she turned quickly back to the offending party,

"Ya know, for some reason I have the weirdest urge to fry you all to death, but oddly enough I feel like its been done before," the girl who threw the hex sneered at her again, they seemed to do that often.

"You're all talk, you're just a bloody second year," eyebrows raising she grinned widely, she'd wanted to say this for a long time and since they were all Pure-Bloods they'd not get the context, this outta be fun. Raising her wand she drawled out in her best James Earl Jones impersonation,

"I find your lack of faith...disturbing," with one quick gesture and a whispered incantation all three girls rose in the air by their necks, they dropped their wands as they desperately clawed at the invisible hands chocking the life from them. Lilly watched them in morbid fascination as their eyes began to bulge and their arms fell to their sides as they started to spasm, after a few more seconds she felt her own arm being tugged. Looking down she saw a watery eyed Luna staring at her, those same disturbing fiery blue eyes from the train cutting into her soul,

"Lilly...please that's enough," sighing she nodded as she cut the spell sending the girls to the ground gasping and sobbing,

"As you wish," turning back to the three Ravenclaws who were now sporting identical red rings around their necks she glared down at them a moment before speaking, "You're getting off with a severe bruising rather then asphyxiation due to the kindness of the one you were tormenting, you pull this shit again not even she will be able to stop me. Remember, I'm not Dumbledore, I don't do second chances." The girls scrambled to their feet and ran away, sighing Lilly released her power and swayed back and forth a bit from the shock of it.

"Thank you...thank you Lilly," turning back to Luna who was still clutching her arm in a death grip she gave her a wide grin as she pulled her into a hug that was quickly returned,

"Not a problem Moonbeam, I can't abide bully's and I promised I'd look out for you, speaking of which, Helena?" The Gray Lady shifted through the wall and smiled down at the pair,

"Hello Lilly, Luna," to her surprise Luna smiled and waved the arm that wasn't clutching onto the ravenette,

"Hello Lady, did you tell Lilly I needed help?" Nodding slowly the ghost smiled again,

"I did indeed little one," turning to Lilly she continued, "You may have gone a bit overboard but I know their type well, anything less than the threat of an ignoble death wouldn't have stopped them. I'll tell Professor Flitwik what his Eagle's had been up to, he shan't be happy I think," smirking Lilly bowed her head once before replying.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her, I appreciate it," waving it off the ghost bade them fare well and left their sight, jerking her head to the open corridor Luna nodded and followed the slightly over protective Slytherin. After a few minutes Luna asked,

"Did you mean what you said earlier? Am I one of yours?" Eyebrows raising a bit she cocked her head to the side confused,

"Of course, I said it didn't I? You're mine and I look after my own, simple as that," not understanding the incredibly pleased look on the blonde she shrugged and led her to the Great Hall for lunch. Seeing Hermione and her boys she walked over and realized Luna wasn't going anywhere, rolling her eyes she asked Draco to slid over and sat next to her best friend, Luna never once let go of her death grip. Raising a brow Hermione greeted her,

"Hello Lilly, Luna, something you need to tell us?" Lilly had a bit of trouble dumping food onto her plate with one hand but she managed, out of nowhere Hedwig swooped down and landed before her with a letter in her claws.

"Explains why she wasn't on Luna duty, Hermione could you perchance get that for me? And by the way," she turned to Blaise and grabbed the golden eyed boys attention, "That spell your mum taught you? Works beautifully." Hermione paused taking the letter from Hedwig as she and the boys noticed for the first time Luna's tear track stained face, after a moment Blaise nodded slowly and swallowed his food.

"Glad to hear it, who was it?" Lilly shrugged at that as she attacked her salad,

"As far as I can tell Chang and her groupies, Su Li warned me about her last year but I hadn't realized what she meant when she called her a bitch, it is now noted for future reference." Blaise nodded slowly as Hermione let out a gasp, turning to her friend she met her warm brown eyes which were currently filled with confusion, amusement, and shock,

"Lilly, is there any particular reason you need to be updated on your Aunt Bellatrix's attempts at making zombie werewolves to do her gardening work?" Lilly chocked on her salad as she automatically began laughing, both Luna and Hermione patted her back to clear her throat, still laughing she shook her head slowly as a rueful grin spread across her face. Goddess be good did she love her friends and family.

Samhain came and went, thankfully without anything crazy happening this time around although Susan and Hannah did make it a point to hang out with her for most of the day, when you take down a mountain troll together there's a bit of a bond. The following day though saw host to one of the castles few organized football matchs, and unlike Quiditch which Lilly just saw as a means to build her reputation and fly she actually liked this sport.

The afternoon air was crisp but not yet true Scotland cold yet so most of the participants were wearing workout pants and jumpers, the trainers Lilly had brought with her really weren't made for football but she'd make do in order to have some fun. She hadn't been all that shocked when she was the first one to be picked for one of the teams, oddly enough it was Dean Thomas from Gryffindor. She had hardly spoken a word to the boy and she figured he'd have the same anti-Slytherin prejudice as his best mate Ronald, she'd brought it up to him and he'd just grinned and shrugged.

"Ron isn't here and if you're as scary at this as you are everything else I want you on my side," that was...oddly endearing and almost cunning, she'd give him points for that at the very least. She was a bit surprised to see a few Pure-Bloods involved as well, Ginny and the Weasley twins amongst them, Draco and Blaise were there as well but as spectators rather then players. As the match began in earnest Lilly couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much simple relaxed fun, her team was losing by two goals after a half hour but she really didn't mind.

As she was about to take a penalty shot (Colin really had to learn that _biting_ was not acceptable when playing with anyone else other then his little brother) Lilly felt her chest seize, the building feeling she'd had since September seemed to have suddenly come to a crescendo. Stumbling mid run she fell to her knees and gasped for breath, the other players rushed up to her to figure out what was wrong when she finally felt her senses being dragged towards the Forbidden Forest. She let out a piercing scream as she finally realized what the feeling had been as the half dozen lorry sized Aracumantula's skittered towards the group their mandibles clacking as they let out far too human cries of excitement; the castles wards had sensed danger, and she'd been pushing it aside out of ignorance.

As the other children began to scream she saw Sally and Hermione rush up to her both with wands drawn, the massive spiders from hell were knocking students around and one of the larger ones grabbed an unlucky Hufflepuff in its pincers and began swinging the girl around before releasing her sending her flying.

"_What the hell these things love human flesh why aren't they feeding?!" _Tom quickly spat out,

"_Doesn't matter, you need to kill these things and fast, go all out or everyone is going to die,"_ Tom instantly gave her access to some very nasty spells and Lilly rushed forward, the first Aracumantula she approached had Ginny pinned under a massive leg the tiny redhead screaming in fear. Grabbing a handful of grass Lilly banished it towards the spider while in the same moment casting a complex chain transfiguration spell; she turned the banished blades into needles and engorged them while straightening their paths in a wide cone. The now nearly supersonic javelins from hell perforated the spider sending it flying backwards, grabbing Ginny's hand she met the girls gold brown eyes and yelled,

"RUN!" Turning back to the badly injured spider she decided it was down for the count, rushing forward she jumped over the body of a Gryffindor and silently hoped he wasn't dead, seeing the next spider being held back by a very, _very_ pissed off Draco and Blaise she felt her rage build. These fucking bugs weren't going to take her boys, pointing her wand at the massive creature she roared, "INCENDUS HOLOCOTIAUS!" The grinning, smoldering demonic skull erupted from her wand and it cackled as it rushed the unaware creature.

The sound it made as the demonic fire crashed threw its exoskeleton and boiled it alive from the inside was hideously satisfying, seeing two of the smaller spiders trying to pull a Ravenclaw girl apart she threw a pair of her dads patented dark cutters at the beasts, they both dropped the girl as the screamed in agony. Not wasting a breath she summoned the girl towards her as she sent a low yield explosion curse at them, running away more to avoid getting showered in ichor then anything she finally approached the biggest of the eight legged freaks. The monster was surrounded by injured students, several of the older children were trying to keep it back with reductors and simple fire spells but it was just too magically resistant to be bothered by such things, Lilly sent several charged cutters and blood boilers at the monstrosity but they just seemed to piss it off. Turning towards her it roared and the pounding of its hairy legs shook the ground around it, Lilly was in the middle of casting a second demon fire when the creature loomed right above her.

Lillith had no time to react as it snatched her in its mandibles, as she felt the fangs stab into her abdomen she screamed in agony as it injected her with its venom, glaring into the sentient beasts multi-faceted eyes with absolute loathing she pointed her wand at its head and growled,

"Avada Kedavra," there was a flash of green light and Lilly felt herself falling to the ground as the spider collapsed, as she lay there bleeding staring up into the sky she couldn't help but laugh,

"Guess Ronald and I have something in common now...fucking spiders..." with that she succumbed to the venom and blacked out.

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**End result of wresting control of the wards from the headmaster without getting the instruction manual, I hope you're all cool with things going off the rails, don't worry things are going to get very interesting soon. Also Luna has a crush and Lilly's oblivious, I think it's cute. Anyway as always REVIEW!**


	23. Those We Leave Behind

**Character reactions, explanations of why it happened, Neville being a badass and Hermione confronting her feelings, hope you all enjoy and as always please REVIEW!**

**EDIT-OH! Right I finally updated my profile, took most of the afternoon but yeah, it's no longer a whiny little emo snippet about my love life, offer summaries to most of my major stories in it and my thoughts behind the characters so enjoy**

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Theodore Nott was currently going through something many Pure-Blood scions could arguably go their entire lives without experiencing; true unrelenting regret at being responsible for others being hurt. When he'd been given the task by his father to cast a simple marking spell on the mudblood and blood traitors of Hogwart's he'd not thought anything of it, Alexander always asked questions and Theo's unquestioning loyalty made him his fathers favorite. That was then, this was now, his father had essentially made him an accessory to murder and while the courts _may_ let the charges slide if it had just been mudbloods who were hurt fate happened to be a cruel mistress.

No, no not only were both the heirs to the Malfoy and Zabini lines at the pitch during the acromantula attack so was the wizarding worlds Golden Girl Lillith Potter; he snorted and rolled his eyes at that. If the rest of their world realized how vicious and downright terrifying that waif of a girl was they'd be singing another tune, as things stood they didn't and he did and he was rightfully scared shitless over what was going to happen to him if she ever found out, assuming she survived the lethal doses of venom currently flooding her veins that is.

So with that in mind he was using a grease pencil to draw a series of runes on the washroom mirror, he'd taken the extra precaution to jam a chair under the door jamb to prevent eavesdropping on top of the silencing charms he'd already cast. His work done he incanted a phrase and waited with baited breath, soon his reflection changed to that of his older brother, he looked healthier than he had when he lived with them and his brown hair had grown down past his ears. Smiling widely he greeted Theo happily,

"Hello little brother, how goes the wild world of Hogwarts?" Theo licked his lips nervously and closed his eyes as he tried not to hyperventilate,

"Big brother I think I messed up bad, I...I did the one thing you warned me not to do without thinking it through," face falling and eyes darkening the young man took in a slow breath before replying.

"You listened to father, didn't you?" Theo could only nod as his brother pinched the bridge of his nose as he groaned out, "Continue." Running his hands through his hair Theo began pacing before the mirror,

"Father had some long term plan with Lord Malfoy to discredit Dumbledore and hopefully get his positions taken from him, Lord Malfoy backed out but father wouldn't tell me why. Anyway he told me cast a simple tracking charm on all the mudbloods and blood-traitors I could find, said something about it not activating until there was a large concentration of them. There was a football game today and..." he shuddered as he braced his hands on the sink.

There was a pause as he stared down for a moment before he looked up to his brother with haunted eyes, "They were attacked by a half dozen acromantula's... Lillith Potter was poisoned by the largest one...after she brutally slaughtered the majority of them." Alexander looked at him blankly before he did something incredibly uncharacteristic, he began swearing, colorfully and in length, he was pacing back and forth a bit before quickly turning back to Theo.

"Ok...ok, did you use your wand to cast the spells?" He shook his head in the negative and held up the spare wand his father had given him for the task, nodding Alex pointed down at the sink before him, "Burn it, now." Nodding Theo tossed it into the sink and cast a quick incendio, after it was reduced to ashes he turned the sink on and flushed the remains down the drain, looking up he gave Ale a wane smile.

"Step one is done, what's step two?" Alex rubbed his chin a moment before nodding slowly,

"Are there any deaths or just injuries," Theo felt ill as he looked to the side,

"Two girls from Hufflepuff and a boy from Gryffindor are confirmed dead, I don't know them two were fourth years and the other was a sixth, more than a dozen are critically injured but Lillith is in the most danger. Apparently she was the only one to get poisoned and well...survive long enough to make it to the infirmary..." His older brother swore quietly at that,

"Ok, the hard truth is she is one vengeful and scary girl, trust me when I say she'll have no issues killing you if she finds out you were responsible, have you said anything disparaging about her or her friends recently? Anything to implicate you?" Theo gave him an offended look at that,

"Be serious brother, she may be a half-blood and a blood traitor but she is not one you cross lightly, and it's not like I cast the tracker on her _or_ her particular pet mudbloods, I remember what happened to LeStrange last year and she didn't even know who his victim was when she tortured him into a coma." Alex relaxed at that and smiled lightly,

"Good...good, they never did prove that was her but as her tutor I know her work when I see it...poor bastard started talking with a stutter after that, has an eye tick too... Anyway look, more than likely one of two things will happen when it comes to our family, either we'll never be implicated or Lord Malfoy will point his finger at father but I doubt he'd bother involving himself..." he trailed off as Theo paled. "What is it?" Theo rubbed his face with both hands groaning,

"Draco Malfoy was on the pitch, he was the first one to pull Lillith out from under the acromantula's head, it'd dropped her when she downed it with the killing curse and from what I heard broke both her legs. Not that she'd notice with the amount of venom in her at that point..." Alexander stared at his brother a minute before growling in anger, he than jerked his head up and smiled.

"Can you sneak out of the castle, or on the roof?" Theo thought about it and nodded slowly,

"I can be on the roof in about an hour, the grounds are on lock down at the moment," Alex was seen gathering a few things from his closet as he called out,

"Be on top of the astronomy tower in an hour than, I'll apparate to the Three Broomsticks and fly out to you, don't worry little brother I'll save you from this little fiasco." Feeling relief for the first time since he'd seen the bloodied bodies dragged in through the Great Hall he cut the connection, after cleaning up the mirror he quietly sneaked about trying to remain unnoticed. Luckily for him the castle was in such an uproar no one paid him any heed, as he stood atop the windswept tower shivering in the setting sun he soon spotted a speck on the horizon.

After a time his brother landed next to him, the tall brunette looked his distraught brother over a few times, Theo fidgeted under the judging gaze but after a time Alex sighed and pulled him into a tight hug. Theo returned it happily, Alex was the only one who ever showed him affection like this, Mother and Father considered such displays to be beneath them, that thought brought up something he'd blithely ignored for years. _Why_ was he so loyal to his father? As if hearing his thoughts Alex spoke up quietly, his voice nearly lost on the wind.

"If father is implicated he'll throw you under the carriage, he's ruthless and a coward, what I'm about to do will save you from that, but I'm leaving you with the thought that he is not to be trusted any longer. I'm truly sorry about this little brother," Theo looked up in confusion to see a wand pointed at his face, Alex's eyes showed true regret as he said "Obliviate."

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Sally-Anne Perks was, if she had any say so in the matter, a rather intelligent, resourceful, and somewhat sadistic young lady, the fact that Lilly's Aunt Bellatrix had offered mentoring her for her mastery after graduation said something as well. It didn't matter to Sally in the slightest that the eccentric woman obviously had a few wires crossed as well as having a few screws missing, if anything her mad scientist outlook on life made becoming her apprentice all the more interesting. This little facet of her life and her future would have been impossible under normal circumstances, nearly all Pure-Blood witches and wizards would never even consider mentoring a muggle-born, it would be beneath their station and an insult to their career choice.

Her friendship with Lillith Potter opened a door to a future where she would be gaining prestige and experience in the magical community while also committing crimes against god and nature, as far as nepotism went she couldn't be happier with the net result. That bright future would always be there no matter what happened, she knew that for certain, but the fact that the girl who made it possible for her to have this path opened was dying in the bed beside her tore her apart.

There were healers and medi-witchs from Saint Mungo's swarming the Hogwarts infirmary, the number of injuries preventing the incident from being covered up like Hermione said the Headmaster had wanted, the self righteous bastard. Currently Lilly's Aunt Andromeda was hovering over the girl shoving dozens of potions down her mouth as the raven haired preteen stared at the ceiling unblinking; it concerned all those involved that her iris's were glowing and the whites of her eyes had gone black but they had no idea what to do with that so they ignored it at the moment. Good thing too, Sally knew exactly what that meant, Lilly was drawing in the magic around her even while unconscious in what Sally could only assume was an attempt to keep her alive. Lifting her glasses to wipe away her tears the blonde girl softly whispered out,

"Please don't die Wizard-Jesus..."

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Draco was pacing back and forth in his mother's office, the blonde boy kept running his fingers through his now thoroughly disheveled hair while Blaise was quietly sitting in the corner, there was an unreadable expression on his face as he rolled his wand between his his thumb and forefinger. They'd both gotten bruised and scratched in the attack but their injuries were so superficial that they weren't even allowed in the infirmary, which was why they were currently locked up in Professor Malfoy's office; it would seem that both she and Professor Snape were aware the two boys would otherwise try to break in and check on their friends. After a few minutes Blaise spoke up softly,

"You keep messing your hair up like that and you'll upset Lilly, you know how she like it nice and straight..." Draco paused and turned to the dark skinned boy who was still staring blankly forward, he was going to snipe back when he realized what his friend was trying to do, be optimistic that Lilly would survive to chide him.

"I know, but luckily my charming personality and haughty demeanor will be enough for her," Blaise actually managed a small smile at that as Draco began pacing again. After a time he sighed and moved over to his mothers desk and fell into the large chair looking like the child he was in the large leather seat, "I...I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now Blaise, if she dies I mean...its my fault, I was there and I couldn't fight back well enough... She had to come save us and then before we could even thank her she was off doing her Saving People Thing..." Blaise for his part remained silent for a time before replying,

"I could tell you that it is in no way your fault, that we're only second years and the fact that she was able to do what she did was simply because Lillith Potter is a force of nature and we could never compete with her. If I told you this, would you believe it enough to not blame yourself?" Draco stared up at the ceiling than sighed out,

"No...no I would not..." Blaise nodded slowly at that,

"Yeah...me neither..." Draco's mercury gray eyes met Blaise's golden yellow and after a time both boys nodded in understanding, when Lilly got better, not if, _when,_ they'd make sure they'd be strong enough to protect her, or die trying.

* * *

Neville Longbottom had come to Hogwart's thinking himself a squib, a weakling to be ridiculed and destined to be nothing but an embarrassment to his parents sacrifice and a disappointment for his Gran. The fact that he'd lost his toad in less than an hour on the Hogwart's Express just added to that depressing self assessment, then he met Lillith and Hermione and his entire world changed. Lilly never judged him, she was always perky and optimistic about everything she did and was infinitely patient with his lack of self confidence and would calmly chide him to have more faith in himself. Out of no other responsibility other then considering him a friend she'd gotten him his wand and when she found out they were godsiblings she'd all but adopted him as her brother, going so far as declaring him as such in public with a warning eye to anyone who would pick on him.

That was what Lilly was to him, an incredibly protective little sister who gave without expecting anything in return other than courtesy, on that note it explained why she despised Ron so much but he really couldn't blame her for that at all. He had never felt more useless than he did right at this moment though, his little sister was dying after facing down and slaying several super sized spiders trying to protect her schoolmates and he was stuck up in the Gryffindor common room. His normal confidant Sally couldn't even help because she too was in the infirmary and for all he knew she was also on her death bed, no one was talking and it was only making matters worse for the young boy.

Looking up he saw several older students crying in the corner, apparently it had been their friend that had died, with that dour thought Neville came to an epiphany, why Lilly always seemed to throw herself into her projects and her friendships. He'd gathered from snippets of conversations that her early childhood had been bad, and she'd very nearly died before joining her current family, that sort of thing colored the way you looked at life and now Neville finally understood a bit of her thinking.

"Live your life, because you never know when it will end..." A couple of the students around him looked up and gave him odd glances but he ignored them as he stood and walked towards the portrait door, one of the prefects, Percy Weasely grabbed his shoulder as he reached the steps and turned him around.

"And where do you think you're going? The professors have us all on lock down you can't just go wandering the halls," Neville gave him a cool look before politely stating,

"I'm sorry but my little sister is currently in the infirmary and I need to see her...if she doesn't make it I want to at least be able to say goodbye," unbeknownst to him he'd gathered a bit of an audience as Percy rather haughtily replied,

"It doesn't matter what you want rules are rules and you have to stay here," Neville quirked a brow up at this,

"Are you telling me that you are in no way concerned for Ginny, _your_ little sister and don't wish to be down in the infirmary with her?" Percy sniffed disdainfully at that.

"Of course I'm concerned, but I'm not about to disobey rules to check up on her, if there is anything wrong I'm sure they'd tell me," nodding slowly Neville turned to leaved when Percy grabbed him again, huffing Neville ground out,

"So you're not letting me go?" Percy rolled his eyes at this,

"No obviously, now go sit back down and stop making trouble," Neville stood there for a moment before shrugging and throwing a tense fist forward punching Percy directly in the crotch, as the prefect cried out in pain and fell to his knees Neville pulled his leg back and kicked Percy directly in the face breaking his glasses and sending him sprawling. The entire room looked at the boy in shock as he sniffed in a rather decent imitation of the prefect as he headed for the door.

"You can take points from me later, I'm going to go check on my sister, ta," he heard a rush behind him and he was prepared to be dragged back in by a group of furious lions, instead Fred and George flanked him both smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"Well done mate,"

"Been wanting to do that for years," Fred or George said this with a wistful look on his face,

"Anyway if you don't mind,"

"Since you've already breached the wall so to speak,"

"We'd like to accompany you on your journey to a month of detention,"

"Because as much as you're worried for young Lilly,"

"We're equally worried about little GinGin," both twins scowled at this, Neville just nodded once as he drew his wand in anticipation of having to hex anyone who tried to get in his way,

"More the merrier, after this maybe Lillith will give us Marauder names," the twins exchanged hopeful looks at that as the trio made their way to the infirmary.

* * *

Severus was leaning against Narcissa as Minerva paced about agitated beyond words, all three professors knew how bad the situation was and it was not getting better anytime soon. Three students dead, a dozen more critically wounded and dozens more sporting a variety of minor injuries, the Girl-Who-Lived was currently dying from a pair of puncture wounds in her abdomen as her organs were being liquefied by acromantula venom and all the Headmaster cared about was trying to keep it all under wraps. That last bit had been overruled by Pamona of all people who'd calmly walked out of the emergency meeting and contacted Saint Mungo's, Severus couldn't help but let a twitch of a smirk crawl up his face for a moment at that memory, good on her. Eventually Narcissa spoke up,

"I...feel bad locking Draco away like that, he'd want to be here..." Minerva looked up at that and let out a small snort, the three of them were currently standing vigil outside the infirmary ostensibly to keep people out but in truth they were waiting on pins and needles to hear the status of their favorite raven haired Slytherin.

"If we let him out he'd be glued at her bedside only getting in the healers way, thank Merlin Miss Granger wasn't paying attention to what the medi-witches were handing her when she downed that sleeping draught, we'd never pull her away from Lilly long enough to treat her own injuries." Severus ran a hand through his hair not sure what to do in this situation, no one had seen it coming and to be perfectly blunt their little facade about Lilly's home life may fall apart far sooner then they had planned. He was confident that the anti-venom he had brewed was going to be enough to counter what his daughter was suffering from but the other injuries...the liquefied organs, the bleeding, her magic running wild and focusing her core none stop...

"I do believe I'm about to have a nervous breakdown," he stated calmly, both woman turned to the terrified father as a motion caught their attention, a blonde and two redheads all in Gryffindor colors approached the trio of professors wands drawn. They all blinked rapidly seeing who was leading the small group,

"Mister Longbottom what are you doing out of the common room?" Minerva asked with a quirked brow, he looked uncomfortable a moment but schooled his features as he set his shoulders, Narcissa and Severus exchanged amused glances at the determined boys look.

"I'm here to see my sister, if, if Li-Lilly doesn't make it, I...I want to be there for her...I just...I can't not do nothing..." The Weasely twins nodded in sync at that both looking dour with their ever present grins missing. Minerva's stern expression collapsed and Severus noticed her hold back a sob,

"While I understand that Mister Longbottom we can't just let you wander the halls with these attacks, surely you understand this?" He nodded slowly before sighing,

"Professor I've already laid out a prefect who got in my way tonight, and I know I have no chance against you much less the three of you...but if tonight's the last night I get to see my little sister alive...I...I'll do what I have to do..." The three professors stared at him in shock for a moment before Narcissa let out a light chuckle,

"That boy is most certainly a Gryffindor...although there's a good amount of Hufflepuff in him with that show of loyalty..." Severus sighed slowly before cracking the door,

"You two may go see your sister, she's already been treated and dosed with dreamless sleep but you'll be out of the way there," the twins nodded and thanked him as they entered the bustling room, meeting Neville's gaze Severus gave him an appraising look before jerking his head quickly to the door. "Stay out of their way," Neville nodded quickly but before he could move past the professors Minerva cleared her throat and stated,

"For assaulting a prefect and violating school rules you will serve detention with me for the next month, also twenty points from Gryffindor," as she said this she quickly looked up to Narcissa who smiled at the dejected child throwing in,

"And thirty points to Gryffindor for showing extreme loyalty to family and friends," Neville looked between the three professors and realized they were all wearing light smiles, returning it he nodded and entered the infirmary. He'd stay at Lilly's side for an hour before he was shooed out by her Aunt Andromeda as they needed to change the wounds dressings, he was followed back up to the common room by the twins and calmly walked up to his dorm, as he settled into bed he couldn't help but feel that his life was going to be significantly less bright if his pseudo-sister did not make it through the night.

* * *

Hermione came to with a start, the smell of antiseptics and blood permeated the room she found herself in, looking about she realized quickly that she was in the infirmary and suddenly the past days events hit her like a hammer. She and Sally had just successfully killed one of the dumpster sized spiders when they'd heard a horrifying cry behind them, they'd both turned around just in time to see the largest of the acromantula's grabbing Lilly in its mandibles and heard the green eyed witch scream in agony. There had been a muted flash of light and the spider had dropped her as it collapsed to the ground, they'd both rushed across the pitch to find Draco already there trying to lift the monstrosities head off Lilly's legs, lending a hand they'd just gotten her clear as the professors arrived, everything was a blur after that.

"Lilly..." she gasped out in horror, scrambling out of the bed she noticed that while many of the other beds were occupied only one had a curtain drawn around it, tip toeing forward she pocked her wand in between the curtains and gently slid it open enough to see inside. Casting a low powered Lumos she walked forward and saw her best friend laying prone, her eyes were wide and staring at the ceiling, while normally pale she was as white as snow and if it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of her chest Hermione would have thought her dead. Sitting in the chair beside the bed Hermione took Lilly's limp cool hand in her own and gently rubbed her thumbs down it, she had no idea what to say, or had words to explain the feelings running through her mind. after a time she let out a sigh and whispered,

"I remember when we met, you gave me a false name as you tried to hide in plain sight, neither you or your aunt realized your glamours had faded which in retrospect was rather funny; you were such an enigma but you took an instant liking to me and I to you. You dragged me to your families homes for nearly a year breaking me of my bossy habits and worship of authority figures quickly...although the latter was fairly easy when I found out what the government had done to your godfather. I've only known you for two and a half years yet you're the most important person in the world to me..." She paused as she licked her dry lips, lost in thought.

Hermione remained silent for a time than continued, "I...being your friend is difficult, you're always plotting something, always trying to find an edge, always playing those around you to build up a core group of followers. You let many of them see some of your true self but you never let them fully in, the closest has been Sally but I think you see alot of your aunt in her...but you've never blocked me out, you've trusted me since before we came here with your darkest secrets and...I can't begin to describe what that means to me..." Hermione had at this point stopped fighting back the tears that had been threatening to let lose since she pulled the curtain back.

She stared at the still form for a few more minutes before standing, she leaned down and whispered so softly that it was barely a sigh on the wind, "I...I think I love you...and I have no idea what to do about that...please...don't die..." with that she gently kissed Lillith's cold lips and padded away back to her own bed, she would get no more sleep that night.

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**As stated, pairings are not set, but that doesn't mean other characters are not interested, anyway no Lilly in this chapter, next is all about her, what to look forward to, Lillith's revenge on the Acromantula's, Lucius beating the shit out Thaddeus Nott with an iron pipe, and much much more! As always please review!**


	24. Lucius, in the Shed, with a Pipe

_**Tiny bit shorter than I wanted, I was really hoping to get past Yule this chapter but I just quit my job (HUZZAH! *Does happy dance*) so I need to focus on finding a new one right now, wrote this in about two hours so if I get some free time later tomorrow there may be another update soon but alas who knows. Anyway if any of you hadn't guessed Alex is going to be a major OC later on which I personally find hilarious since he was originally nothing more than a throwaway much like Timeo was back in 'Let me Share Your Burden', love how that works out. Anyway, as always enjoy and REVIEW!**_

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Severus was roused from his slumber by the rush of green flames from his fireplace, 'Same color as my daughters eyes,' he mused to himself as the face in the fire took form. Meeting the ethereal gaze of his longtime friend Severus nodded slightly,

"Lucius, a pleasure as always," the blonde mans face contorted into an emotion the Potions Master couldn't quite place before he responded,

"This isn't a social call old friend, I...believe I have a lead on the acromantula attack, and I'd like you to be at my side when I confront the perpetrator." Severus sat up straight at that, giving Lucius his full attention he ground out,

"Who, why, where, and when," Lucius was unphased at his friends sudden hostility he quickly replied,

"Thaddeus Nott, an ill thought plan to discredit Dumbledore, the shack outside of Glasgow we use to meet at during the war, and two hours." Severus nodded once and the connection was cut, stroking his chin a few times he nodded to himself as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out an old dusty wood box. He stroked his finger along the etched named and smiled lightly.

While his father had been the definition of why muggles were inferior to magicals his paternal grandfather Ezra Snape was nothing like his horrid son Tobius; honorable, kind, and self sacrificing. It was a pity he had died from a heart attack and had lived _such_ an honest life, if he had left a bit of an inheritance behind to his violent son perhaps he would not have...best not dwell on it.

Lifting the slightly corroded catches he swung the box open and stared down at the well oiled Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistol, his grandfather had carried it through the entirety of the second World War and had bestowed it upon his grandson shortly before he died. He'd been afraid his own son would sell it for booze or use it on his browbeaten wife and defiant son; Severus had known what the old man had expected from him when given the weapon, it was just a pity he hadn't acted before it cost his mother his life.

Lifting the nickel plated pistol from its velvet insert he fished out the loaded magazine and slammed it home, racking the slide the potions master stared down at it for a moment before murmuring to himself.

"Last time I killed with you it was to avenge the death of my mother...today...today you will avenge the near death of my daughter, I think Papa Ezra would have approved..." shoving the pistol into his robes he stood and vanished with a crack.

Alexander was roused from his fitful sleep by of all things his heirs ring, glaring down at the gaudy jeweled thing he silently thanked the fates that no one could see it unless he wished it. Grumbling he got to his feet and dressed quickly, not particularly caring what his father thought of him these days he threw on a pair of cargo pants and a rugby shirt, slipping on a pair of heavy brown boots with steel plates covering the toes the Nott heir cracked his neck and apparated.

Alexander appeared next to his father and raised his brows slightly, normally his shaven bald mountain of muscle of a father was grimly serious and had an aura of rage about him, currently he looked like he was about to shit himself. He'd grown a goatee a few years back to help hide his double chin but it currently wasn't doing its job, his normally flinty blue eyes (that he unfortunately shared) were watery and distant, obviously he'd been drinking recently. Alex approached his father with some trepidation and seemed to startle him as he stepped on a fallen twig, Thaddeus spun quickly wand drawn but he relaxed when he saw his son.

"Alexander...you made it, good we're meeting Lord Malfoy in a few minutes and I need you to back me up, a family situation has occurred and we may need to defend ourselves." Alexander's first thought was "_Oh hell the fuck no,"_ but he kept it to himself, there was only one thing that his father could be referring to and the eighteen year old was sure as hell not going to let himself get dragged into it. That being said his father led him through a desolate neighborhood and into the back garden of a dilapidated home, the creaking shed in there path was coated in muggle-repelling charms so he could only assume it was their destination.

His father held still for a moment before pulling the large shacks door open and cast a lighting charm, Alex fingered his knife and wand nervously as he followed the man inside, they stood in silence before they heard a double crack. Not a moment later the door flew open slamming into the the opposite wall sending dust cascading down on the pair of Nott's, Alex was a bit startled to see Professor Snape beside Lord Malfoy but the seething anger in the mans normally cold black gaze made him more nervous than not.

"Ah, Lucius, Severus, glad you could make it," his father stated in his gravely tone, Snape remained silent but Malfoy raised a single brow as he drawled out,

"Well, seeing as I summoned you here you should not sound so surprised...Thaddeus...what the hell did you do?" For his part Thaddeus remained silent as he began to sweat, Alex was seriously considering the pros and cons of stating what he knew when the older man finally snapped out a reply.

"Since you backed out of the plan to summon our Lord's Basilisk to put down the mudbloods I had to put my own plans into motion, it was fool proof I coerced my idiot son to place tracking charms on their lot while I cast it's counterpart on a few acromantula's. You have to believe me Lucius I only intended for those filth to get hurt I had no idea your son would be-" Lucius made a quick slashing gesture with his hand cutting Thaddeus off, seething the blonde man ground out,

"What you intended and what happened were two things of separate result Thaddeus, as it stands my son stood his ground with his friends and defended himself against your beasts, fortunately for him yet unfortunately for you he was saved by Lillith Potter. While her control of Demon Fire is concerning if she had not acted to defend her housemates my son and heir would likely be dead...what spells did you use to draw the over blown spiders in..." Thaddeus shrugged lightly not seeming to care about Lucius words.

"Just simple hunter charms, when it comes to wards its best to just keep it basic most people don't even consider such things a threat so they do not protect against it." Lucius nodded at this and seemed for the first time to notice Alex and much to the youth in questions surprise he saw sympathy in the mercury grey gaze, that couldn't be good.

"Nott, you...I have no words to convey how badly you fucked things for me," both Nott's started at the blonde mans crass language but he continued regardless. "I had hoped to remain an outlier to what happened in Hogwarts as my son and his friends attended, now that is not possible. We have to find a culprit and while that imbecile Fudge wishes to throw Hagrid in Azkaban to be seen as doing something that's just not possible." Thaddeus looked confused as he replied,

"Why not? You have no love for that buffoon," Snape spoke up then startling all in attendance, he'd been so quiet they'd forgotten his presence at this little meeting.

"Simply put, he is Lillith's friend, anyone who knows her, or him for that matter would know that he'd never do anything to harm her, she is very aware of her position in our society and if Fudge moved to hurt one of her friends...well..." He shrugged a bit and Alex got the hint immediately, his father lacked his first hand experience though and loudly demanded an answer.

"Well WHAT!? What could a little girl do to the ministry?!" Alex snorted gaining the older mens attention as he rolled his eyes no longer caring about keeping propriety,

"A little girl that beat a troll into submission at eleven, that perfected her control over the unforgivable curses before the end of her second term, who faced off against a possessed professor and apparently slaughtered a half dozen giant spiders while protecting her schoolmates. Father I really don't know how much attention you pay to your youngest sons letters but Lillith Potter is on the road to becoming a Dark Lady of a caliber that Britannia has not seen since the age of Camelot." Snape and Malfoy were giving him thoughtful looks as his father sputtered,

"Wha-what are you on about Alexander?!" Alex for his part sighed as he pulled his hair back, he absently noted he needed a shower before replying,

"Father, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was a _very_ dumb Dark Lord," his father gasped in shock at this while the other two men didn't react at all, "He was violently psychotic, relied solely on terrorist actions for results and played politics to get _all_ his followers. Lillith is an incredibly intelligent Dark Lady in the making, she is making friends on her own merits, gaining loyalty through actions, and not delving into sadism to sate any odd thirsts."

He laughed as he threw his hands in the air, "I taught her how to truly focus her use of the cruciatus as to not drain herself, never once did I see a smile or hear a laugh, she practices the Dark Arts as if shes taking a morning constitutional. That girl is the future and you nearly got her killed to discredit one doddering old man. You are a fool and you are going to have to pay for what you've done..." Thaddeus had steadily gotten redder as his son had spoken and looked ready to burst at any moment,

"You will not talk to me like that! And Nothing will stick to me, Theodore was the one casting the tracking spells and-" Alex burst out laughing mirthlessly, meeting his fathers gaze he gave him a wolfish smile,

"Wrong, I've already been to Hogwarts, I happen to know how...vengeful Lilly can be so I took it upon myself to obliviate my little brother, he no longer remembers his part in your plan all he retains is his disgust at his actions and his new distrust of you, have fun with that." Rather then his father responding it was Lucius' bored drawl that followed,

"Interesting, young Alexander may I ask are all your fathers affairs in order?" Alex's brow furrowed in confusion but nodded, his father may have acted foolishly but he kept his books and lines of inheritance in order quite well. "Excellent, than we can proceed." In one smooth movement Lucius had plucked a rusting metal pipe from one of the dust caked tables and swung it with all his might at Thaddeus' face. There was a meaty thump coupled with a metallic ring as blood and teeth went flying, Alex stepped back in shock as Lucius used the pause for a follow up swing at the disoriented lords left knee.

The crack of shattering bone was distinctive as the lord fell to his knees crying in agony, before he could react the pipe came down once more this time breaking a few ribs. As Thaddeus fell on his back Lucius tossed the pipe aside and looked up to meet the shocked Alexander's eyes, "I do believe we're clear on what will happen if you follow in your fathers footsteps?" Alex nodded slowly at this, Lord Malfoy smirked and gave a faux bow as he exited the room, Professor Snape walked up to the bleeding and whimpering form on the floor as he pulled a strange metal instrument from his robes.

"You nearly killed my daughter...I haven't believed in the Dark Lord's rhetoric for quite some time Thaddeus and the fact that you nearly murdered my Lilly over it..well..." There was a sharp deafening crack as the odd device spat out fire and Thaddeus' bald head erupted in crimson. Spinning on his heel the Potions Master jammed the metal device back in his pocket and exited the shack and a moment later the distinct crack of an apparition echoed through the room.

Alex stared down at his Father's dead body for a few moments, after shaking the ringing in his his ears he stepped forward and stomped down on the dead mans right hand. After a bit of prying he tore the head of house ring from the fat finger and dropped it into his pocket, it would seem a trip to Gringott's was in order. As he went to leave the room he came to a dead stop,

"Wait...Lilly...his daughter?"

* * *

Lilly felt light headed, heavy headed, and heads inbetween those heads, in short, she felt terrible; that being said the fact that she felt anything at the moment was a bonus since it meant she was alive. Normally when she'd gone unconscious for any period of time she'd go into a hibernation mode that would allow her and Tom to just banter about until her body got with the program, apparently she'd been so wounded that hadn't been an option. As she painfully cracked her eyes open she winced in agony at the bright light, she heard several quiet alarms go off as she began moving and was soon under the expert ministrations of the mistress of pain herself Madam Pomfrey.

"Hold still child, you've been out for nearly two weeks, here put these on," taking the offered glasses she slide them up her nose and the dark red tinted lenses cut the painful light down quickly, "You're going to have to wear those or something similar to them for the time being child, the venom from that spider messed with all your sensory organs so they had to be slowly regrown, you're basically seeing with new eyes."

_"...Lovely..." _Tom for his part hadn't missed a beat,

"_You'll look good in glasses, I'm sure you can pull off a naughty librarian look when you're older,"_ Lilly rolled her eyes at that.

"_Tom is it just me or are you becoming mildly perverted as you grow older?"_ He just laughed and she had the distinct feeling that he was raising his eyebrows up and down suggestively, how odd.

"_Love I've always been perverted I just hide it less and less as you get older, anyway pay attention to the nurse we'll talk later about the attack and...what needs to be done about it..."_ clearing her throat she turned to the medi-witch smiling slightly,

"Madam Pomfrey, are...can my friends come and visit me?" The older woman gave her a kind smile before nodding, summoning a house elf to go tell her friends she'd awakened she was soon swarmed with well wishers. Much to her surprise many of them were students she didn't even know but she had apparently been responsible for saving them in the acromantula attack, these only stayed around for a few minutes but she was soon surrounded by those she loved and or respected. Hermione, Draco, Blaise, Neville, Sally, Su Li, Hannah, Susan, the Twins, Luna, and Ginny showered her with affection to the point it was suffocating, eventually madam Pomfrey shooed them all away leaving her to herself once again. As the day grew older night soon fell and Lilly stared at the ceiling in contemplation.

Coming to a decision she shakily got to her feet and slipped on a pair of loose slippers and made her way to a certain lavatory,

"_Lilly what are you up to?_" She sighed a bit as she padded down stairs and entered Myrtle's loo,

"_You remember how we decided to take control of the castle regardless of what it would do to the day to day affairs?"_ Tom nodded slowly at that,

"_Yes, yes I do..."_ Lilly sighed quietly as she approached a specific sink,

"_Well my actions caused quite a bit of chaos and I need to make sure it doesn't happen again,"_ Tom remained silent at that as Lilly hissed at the sink, as it opened she took a deep breath to calm herself, hissing for the lift to appear she stood on it and descended into the Chamber of Secrets. First thing she noticed as she reached the bottom of the slimy shaft was the plethora of ancient bleached bones and rotting masonry, she cast a few transfiguration charms to reinforce the walls as she made her way to the sealed door having no desire to suffer a cave in. Ordering it to open she entered a massive chamber with various water fountains and aqueducts, it was all rather pretty honestly, clearing her throat she hissed out,

"_Come to me child of Salazar, come meet your new mistress and prepare to do her bidding!"_ There was a series of clicks and the rather gaudy statue of a man had its mouth clack open and a loud hissing soon filled the room. Lilly gasped and took a step back as a massive snake the likes that had not been seen in generations spilled forth, it slithered through the water and up to the platform, its massive body's movements causing the ancient stones to tremble in its wake. As the basilisk approached Lillith it curled up on itself and raised its upper body high and stared down at the waif of a girl, Lilly covered her mouth with both hands and trembled. After a few moments she began hopping on the tips of her toes and clapped her hands as she excitedly squealed out,

"Oh my goddess, SHE'S ADORABLE!"

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**I really love writing Lillith...depending on the amount of reviews I get I very well may have another update in the next day or so. Oh right, her glasses are basically like Alucard's from Hellsing, just something I thought about her keeping on her person for later days, I love being the one in the know about future plot points, anyway hope you enjoyed this slightly shorter then normal update, as always please review!**


	25. Disproportionate Retribution

_**So not a full chapter but I'm actually considering it part two to the last one, I loved the way that it had ended so didn't want to add anything else to it. We'll consider this just as a weekend special since I already updated two days ago, also next chapter I'm going to be doing something new, kind of a writing challenge deal.**_

_**I want normal reviews obviously but I'd like for you guys to throw me a few ideas for side chapters, just little slices of life that I'll either publish seperatly or insert at the end of future chapters. Anytime from when Lillith meets Severus to the current chapter, and yes it can be slightly less...serious material...got the strangest feeling I'm going to get a lot of Auntie Bella requests... Anyway not making any promises on when they'll be out but it should be just a bit of extra fun.**_

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The Forbidden Forest surrounding the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in the Scottish Highlands has a history just as dark and sordid as the rest of the United Kingdom; it was a wood of ancient growth, long abandoned temples, forgotten secrets, and some openly overlooked. One such open secret was the rather accidental creation of a Acromantula colony by one Rubeus Hagrid sometime in the the 1940's, now a normal, responsible, _muggle_ government would have done something about this incredibly dangerous invasive species.

Sadly, Britain's Ministry of Magic was currently and had been for quite some time one of the most ridiculously corrupt government bodies in the world, unjust laws pass after generous "Campaign Contributions", none human magicals are treated as second class citizens, and Blood status is the rule of law. With this understanding in place it really shouldn't be any surprise that several corrupt officals had kept the massive apex predators off the books to harvest their silk and venom on the sly, who cares if they were thinning the centaur herds? They're less human than even mudbloods after all.

This was the crash course understanding Lillith had gotten from Tom shortly after she'd flown her broom out across the frost kissed Quiditch pitch and slowly made her way to the colony in question. Shivering and casting yet another warming charm on herself she silently thanked her forethought to throw on her heavy winter clothes as she was nearly blown off course by a strong biting gale. As they kept pace with the massive slithering dark creature making her way through the dense undergrowth Tom groused out,

_"I still can't believe what you named that damn thing," _Lilly rolled her eyes at that, this was already becoming an old argument and they'd only released her an hour ago.

_"Oh like your name for her was any better Tom, I mean really 'Snake', points for originality Mr. Riddle, bravo," _Tom grunted at that,

_"It was succinct and factual, you're the one who decided to treat her like a bloody huge evil puppy of all things,"_ she sniffed disdainfully as befit a pureblood Lady as she took an indignant tone,

_"Miss Blinky is a gorgeous specimen, you're just jealous she likes me better than she did you," _Tom's reply was dripping with wry sarcasm,

_"Riiight because she's not playing favorites since you spent half an hour scratching her and the first orders she was given in fifty years was 'I need you to eat a bunch of giant spiders right quick.'" _Lilly smiled at that as she rolled her eyes,

_"Ok maybe she is a bit like a puppy, and can you blame her Tom the only orders she ever got from you was to murder Moaning Myrtle, and while I can sympathize really I can even that was a failure because now she's a barmy ghost...can't even exorcise her now every time she sees me she screams and runs."_ Tom sighed in contentment at that,

_"Yes, a true sense of a power, ghosts run from you in horror," _Lilly didn't respond to this as she finally saw the enormous web domes of the colony ahead, sneering she slit her palm and let her magic gather with the pooling blood. She began an incantation that sent swirls of light spinning about her as she gently swayed her Fae Wand back and forth, as the gathered energies brought her eyes aglow she spilled the blood and let it fall to the ground below.

As Miss Blinky entered the colony there was a horrendous screech of terror from the Acromantula's, jamming her wand down at the dropped blood she finished the incantation and suddenly there was a flare of light; almost instantaneously a ring of blue fire sprung up and burnt its way around the colony sealing it off. As the basilisk began casting its death stare in bright flashes of yellow light she heard a bellowing voice screech out,

"What is the meaning of this!" Lilly's eyes bugged out at the sight of biggest spider she'd ever seen, not even her deepest nightmares could give this thing justice; it stumbled out of the largest web dome looking about blindly so she brought her broom level but outside of striking range.

"Retribution, you have taken what is mine, hurt those I held dear, and nearly killed me, Blood for Blood, Magic for Magic, Life for Life, that is the way of the Black Witch." The spider was panicking now as more of it's children fell to the basilisk who for her part was slowing down to gorge herself on their carcasses,

"It was a misunderstanding, it was only a few of my children who strayed you do not need to punish all of us!" Lillith's eyes glowed darkly as she smiled at the apparently sightless patriarch of the colony,

"This time yes, I find though that the only way to make sure an enemy is unable to strike back is to make sure there are no survivors, genocide is rather permanent like that, goodbye, see you in the other world." Raising back into the air she waited ten minutes for Miss Blinky to finish clearing the colony of any acromantula's that hadn't burned themselves to death on the flame walls, casting a week sonorous she hissed out, "_Well done Misss Blinky, eat your fill than return to your chamber I will return to you sssoon,"_

_"Yesss Missstresss"_ the giant basilisk announced in pleasure, once done feeding she slithered directly through the flames completely uneffected by the blue inferno, glaring down at the patriarch who was just standing quivering in impotent rage surrounded by his dead children she called down to him one last time as she worried the now scabbing wound on her hand.

"I hope you've learned your lesson," with this she let some of her blood drop in the center of the ringed off area and the moment the droplets struck the ground there was a deafening rush of burning air as the blue flames collapsed into the clearing burning all in their wake. After five minutes there was nothing left of the colony other then charred tree trunks and smoldering chitin, Lilly flew back to Hogwarts barely able to keep her eyes open, the magic expenditure on this little jaunt had been insane.

Deciding that next time she came up with such an over the top scheme she'd at least remember a pepper up potion, ditching her broom off at the quiditch pitch and donning her invisibility cloak she wearily made for the medical wing and looked about surreptitiously, padding in she crawled back into bed and sighed in relief. Shucking all the heavy clothing and cloaks she tossed them into her bag beside the bed and collapsed fully into the pillows, as she was about to doze off she heard the clicking of clawed feet on floors tiles.

Eyebrows furrowing she sat up just as a small fox hopped onto the foot of the bed, a moment later it shifted into an irate looking Hermione Granger who was sitting cross legged glaring at her now sheepish best friend.

"Lilly...were have you been?" Lilly didn't make eye contact as she absently scratched the back of her head,

"Ah hell..." Hermione quirked one brow up as a cold smile played on her face,

"Indeed, spill I have a silence ward up and I hit Madam Pomfrey with a stunner so she'll be out for an hour at least," Lilly gave her a queer look than shook her head,

"You are definitely spending far too much time around me," Hermione snorted at that,

"More like Sally but you're deflecting, so as I stated before, spill," groaning in exhaustion and knowing perfectly well her friend wasn't going to let this go (that was one of Hermione's many endearingly annoying traits, she wouldn't stop digging till she had answers) so she let her know everything that transpired. Once she finished explaining what she'd done Lilly had a hard time meeting the other girls eyes afraid of the disgust she'd see there, after a time the bushy haired brunette spoke up.

"So...there were hundreds of these things out there?" Lilly nodded slowly and shuddered a bit,

"Hundreds the size of the ones we fought, there were thousands of smaller ones, I'm going to be hearing the sounds of all those mandibles clacking at once in my nightmares for weeks..." Hermione huffed and scooted up beside the ravenette throwing an arm around her. Grinning at the lack of judgment Lilly let her head fall on Hermione's shoulder,

"Next time a dark species offends you will you at least consult me, or at least one of your aunts before you decide to commit genocide?" Lilly pouted at that a bit but nodded,

"Yes 'Mione I can do that for you," Hermione smiled and kissed her cheek while hopping off the bed, Lilly thought she saw a light blush but it was dark and she was tired, writing it off as a trick of the light she collapsed back on the pillows once again.

"Good, now get some sleep I'll let the boys know what you've been up to," Not deigning it worth her sitting back up Lilly mumbled in return,

"Did I tell you the Basilisks name?" Hermione snorted and said no, grinning Lilly happily stated, "She's Miss Blinky, the prettiest snake in the whole school!" Hermione for her part made a strangled coughing noise that was oddly similar to Tom's initial reaction, after a moment she just sighed.

"Only you Lilly...get some sleep..."

"Nighters 'Mione..." and with that she was out like a light.

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**_Annnnd_ Lilly goes right back to reminding everyone why she's the scariest Second Year that Hogwarts has ever seen. If you're wondering about Hermione's lack of reaction well...the damn things had nearly killed Lillith, _had_ killed three others, and would have done the same to her soooo yeah. Anyway as always, please review!**


	26. The Snake in the Grass

**Chapter 26: The Snake in the Grass**

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**This chapter made me sick, rather the end did, I didn't want to write it and it's the reason I've been pushing this off so long...gods please don't hate me it all ends up well but fuck...I hate this shit...please read and review, I think I need to go get drunk, take care all...**

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**WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING-This is a very divisive chapter, in fact quite a few people straight out quit reading this story because of it despite the very beginning of the next chapter ending it all before it goes too far. Trust me on this, if the end of this chapter upsets you just read the next one right afterwards, I'd never subject Lilly to _that_ again, anyway that is all for now. **

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As tends to happen whilst growing older very little could startle Albus Dumbledore in the twilight years of his life; in the past decade he could honestly say the only thing to really give him pause was Lillith Potter's placement in Slytherin. That had been a crisis he'd wanted to reverse quickly but as luck would have it Severus took control of the girl and eventually his weapon against the misguided Tom Riddle proved herself pliable enough to follow his breadcrumb trail to confront the possessed Quirrell. Too bad it cost him the philosphers stone, Nick was not happy about that at all, alas what can one do.

Now though Albus could add something else to that very short list of things that could startle him, since for obvious reasons the last thing he expected to happen sitting down for breakfast was to have a sobbing half giant rush into the hall and pull the aged headmaster into a crushing hug.

"They're gon' 'eadmaster! Arragog and all 'is kids someones burned 'em all up ta noth'in!" Arragog...Arragog...ah yes that utterly terrifying giant spider he kept meaning to get rid of, a bit late considering he had three dead children to deal with but still at least that was taken care of. Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes Albus managed to get a hand free to pat the hairy sobbing giant gently on the shoulder,

"Now now Hagrid, please, put me down and explain what happened," after much sobbing, sputtering and the occasional wail Albus finally got the gist of what happened, there was currently a massive burned circle in the forest that marked all that remained of the acromantula colony. Hagrid's affections for dangerous beasts aside Albus couldn't understand why the man was so upset, really the bloody things had attacked the school whoever took them out probably did it more humanely then the ministry would have regardless.

Fortunately Minerva was able to draw Hagrid's attention, thank Merlin he really had no idea what he would do without the stoic Scotswoman, she began speaking sternly but not unkindly,

"Hagrid, the colony was responsible for killing three students and very nearly killed Lillith Potter, now I don't condone the extermination of the entire nest-" by the looks on the other professors faces she couldn't have been any less sincere about that statement but Hagrid seemed to buy it, "but surely you expected some sort of retribution?" The gamekeeper sniffled into a blanket size handkerchief before nodding slowly, she gave him a slight smile that seem to reassure him some as she patted his hand gently.

She sighed while gesturing to the open halls, "Why don't you go see Lilly and talk to her about it all right? Get some perspective on how she fought protecting herself from them, maybe you can understand why someone took such extreme measures?" Hagrid nodded in agreement and trundled along, Albus turned his focus back to his breakfast and so missed the conversation between his heads of house.

"I know she's only a second year but I bet you ten galleons Miss Potter had something to do with it," Filius stated before he took a bite out of a buttered muffin, Minerva gave him a sharp glance as she sipped her tea,

"I'm sorry but I won't take a fools wager, she finally regains consciousness and suddenly the creatures that attacked the school all end up dead? I don't believe in coincidence Filius and you know that, now how she managed it is questionable and a bit concerning." he 'hmmed' around his mouthful of food as Severus spoke up,

"I'm a bit surprised, acromantula's are sapient and sentient, I thought you'd be more opposed to their eradication," to her fellow heads of house surprise Pamona spoke up next,

"Those three dead students were sentient too..." nothing else was said on the subject after that all four professors lost in thought.

When Hagrid entered the infirmary the first thing he noticed was Professor Malfoy braiding the girls hip length hair into a single long braid at the same time as young Draco was tapping her tinted glasses changing the colors as she made a negative noise through each choice. As Hagrid came to a stop by the bed she smiled at Draco and nodded as the lenses changed to a near opaque jade green,

"That'll do Little Dragon, thanks for the help, fine detail work is kind of hard when you're wearing what you're transfiguring," the blonde boy nodded as he leaned over and pecked her forehead. Taking his chair back his mother snorted seeing a faint blush crawling up her sons pale face,

"Not a problem Little Fairy, how long do you have to wear those anyway?" She was about to respond when she finally noticed the half giant beside her, she let out a startled gasp then shook her head ruefully seeing who it was. Narcissa tugged the nearly finished braid to get her niece to hold still as the girl in question threw Hagrid a wide smile,

"Hiya Hagrid, is everything all right?" The gentle giant was about to lament the fall of Arragog and his family when he finally noticed that he couldn't see the scintillating emeralds that always showed him so much affection.

"Er, 'iya yerself Lilly, 'eard you was awake and wanted to see how ya were do'in, what's with the err, glasses?" Before she could respond Narcissa let out a slightly disdainful snort, she might have put the Pure-Blood ideology aside for her nieces sake but she still hadn't dismissed her dislike of half-breeds, not that this particular one would notice regardless.

"The acromantula venom did long term and possibly permanent damage to Lillith's body," glancing to the girl she waited until she received a small nod to continue, "The creatures fangs entered her abdomen at kidney level. Incidentally that destroyed the organs in question and the venom eventually dissolved her liver, a meter of intestine, and caused minor damage to her lungs." Draco was growing paler hearing this and grabbed Lilly's hand which she immediately gave a hard squeeze, this was the first either had heard the injury list and while not surprising it was sobering.

Narcissa took a breath in and held it a moment before continuing, "The reason she has to wear the glasses was as the healers focused on removing the dying organs and replacing them before she ...before it was too late the venom made its way into her circulatory system causing nerve and sensory organ damage. Miraculously they were able to reverse almost everything but they had to essentially regrow some of the components of her eyes. At least that's how my sister explained it."

Hagrid for his part looked as pale as the pair of Malfoy's before him as he was given the details of what happened to one of his favorite people, Lilly for her part smiled sadly as she took up the line of conversation.

"My eyes are going to be very sensitive to light for awhile so I have to essentially be "That Guy" and wear sunglasses inside, it...isn't something I'm happy about but hey, it most likely isn't permanent and I'm put back together with all my parts so no complaints right?" Hagrid managed to return the smile as he patted her on the head gently,

"I...I'm just glad yer ok li'l one, Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without ye lead'in yer friends about on some grand adventure or 'nother...I err...I need ta get go'in, things ta do ya know?" She nodded slowly as she cocked her head to the side,

"I understand Hagrid, is something wrong you look upset?" He forced a strained smile as he shook his shaggy head quickly,

"Noth'in fer ya to worry yer pretty 'ead about Lilly, when ya get better come out to me shack and ya can teach me a few more of them muggle songs al'right?" His reward for the suggestion was a beaming smile and an enthusiatic nod, turning to leave Hagrid began ringing his hands musing over what he just heard.

Arragog was his oldest friend, and he'd never hurt no one, but...his kids had killed three students, and well...he threw another look over his shoulder as he left the infirmary giving James and Lily's daughter one final glance. She'd almost died and...this was something he'd have to think about at length for some time...

"You don't like him much do you Aunt Cissy?" Narcissa snapped out of her reverie as she turned towards her niece and son, she allowed a perfectly sculpted eyebrow to raise seeing the held hands but made no comment on it. Sighing she gently laid the finished braid across Lilly's shoulder as she stood straightening her robes,

"Not as such no, he's...he means well but he is uncouth, uncultured, and-" she was going to throw out 'a half-breed' but stumbled on the word not wanting to upset the girl but thankfully the child in question supplied an out.

"And he has absolutely no common sense when it comes to dangerous creatures...I know, still his hearts in the right place I just hope it doesn't cost him down the line..." Narcissa nodded as the now bespectacled heiress cocked her head to the side, "What's going to happen about the dead students? I'm sure there must be a bit of an uproar?" Draco released her hand at this looking nervous, he rubbed his face with both hands before sighing slowly and throwing his mother a pleading look, Narcissa pinched the bridge of her nose knowing full well there was no easy way to say what needed to be said.

"There...isn't going to be an uproar because there was no investigation, the bodies were buried and the Ministry obliviated the families into thinking they never had children..." Lillith sat silently staring at her aunt, the blonde in question gulped silently as she noticed black arcs of raw magic crackling through the pre-teens hair and jumping between her fingers, the pungent smell of ozone now filling the room.

The girls only verbal reaction was a single, succinct word that managed to convey her entire opinion on the matter, "What." Draco gathered his courage meeting Lilly's gaze, his silvery gray eyes staring into the glowing points behind the dark lenses,

"They were all muggle-borns Lilly...Minister Fudge decided that instead of investigating it would be easier to just pretend it never happened, and since muggles have no rights in our world..." Lilly for her part began gritting her teeth as she clenched her small hands into tight fists, shaking in impotent fury she eventually let out a calming breath and the building energy in the room seemed to settle. The two Malfoy's sighed in relief as Lillith regained her composure, rubbing her temples she eventually pulled her glasses off wincing at the bright light, meeting both her aunt and friends eyes she gave them a sad smile.

"Thanks...thanks for not sugar coating it, I'm...I'm gonna get some rest...take care and tell the others I'm all right ok?" Narcissa reached down and gently touched her nieces hand,

"If it means anything love, I'm just as angry about this as you are, I may have followed the Pure-Blood doctrines for much of my life but ignoring the deaths of children and making the parents forget they ever existed, I..." Throwing her aunt a pained smile Lilly patted her hand slowly,

"It's...fine...just give me some time ok?" Nodding slowly she freed her hands and turned to her son,

"Come along Draco Lilly needs her rest, the sooner she gets better the sooner she can return to classes," Draco snorted at that rolling his eyes in an obvious attempt at levity,

"I give it a day before she tries to break out of here," saying their goodbyes they began walking towards the door as Lady Malfoy let out a small scoff,

"You've obviously never tried to get away from Madam Pomfrey before my dear son, you haven't seen scary until you've riled that woman, this one time cousin Sirius actually tried to arrange a distraction to escape her clutches and well..." As the conversation faded away Lilly stared down at her glasses and eventually sighed,

"_Hey Tom?_" A brief moment later she got a response,

"_Yes Love?"_ Sliding the near opaque lenses on she pushed them up her nose with an extended middle finger as she lay back down into the bed,

"_When I take over, Fudge dies, slowly, publicly, and in the most humiliating manner either of us can possibly think of..." _The Dark Lord in her head scoffed in good humor,

"_Lilly-Flower, I'd think less of you if you'd decided otherwise,"_ nodding slowly she tried to force herself to sleep,

"_Good...just making things clear, family is everything, and if a politician dares to take that from people..."_ with that thought in mind she soon fell into the realm of Morpheus, several hundred kilometers away an overweight man in a lime green bowler hat shuddered for an unknown reason. Wiping his sweaty brow with a handkerchief he glanced about in confusion trying to figure out what had made him feel like someone had just walked over his grave.

After another week of bed rest Lillith finally got a clean bill of health and upon her release from the clutches of Madam Pomfrey she'd become the resident star of Hogwarts yet again; it didn't matter that she considered the three dead students as a mark of failure, that she felt it was her own hubris that led to innocents falling in her wake. No, what mattered was that the Girl-Who-Lived was still kicking and taking names, and it was with this news that the new dueling club was announced sponsored by none other then Gildroy Lockheart. Lilly glared at the flier with loathing as Blaise threw an arm around her shoulders, she remained silent until he quietly asked,

"What has you so angry Lils? You usually hide your emotions far better then this, keep it up and even Crabbe or Goyle will notice your lack of reticence." She tried to keep a taciturn continence but eventually it cracked as she let a few tears roll down her cheek,

"It feels like my failure is being used to give that bloody peacock more room to strut, Blaise, kids are dead, people our age, all because I wasn't fast enough they're gone...and Lockhart is using it as an excuse to show off and their parents won't even mourn them because the ministry wiped their minds; and of course the flaxen haired fool had to wait until I was out of the hospital wing for optimum coverage..." Grinning slyly the Italian wizard guided her away from the gathering crowd as he whispered in return,

"If he disgusts you that much why not show the world what kind of wizard he truly is then? I happen to know who's been training you for the past six years after all, it could be very...educational for our classmates." Pausing for a moment processing what her friend proposed she suddenly shared his subdued smile,

"Why not indeed my friend...why not indeed..." She and her friends had all signed up for the club but the first meeting wasn't until after Yule, so a week after everyone returned from holiday the Great Hall was set up into a series of dueling rings with the central one positioned on a raised dais; it took a few moments but Lilly soon realized it was just a repurposed table. Idly twirling her mothers wand in her hand as Hermione rattled off at her Lilly waited for the damn thing to start with barely restrained anticipation,

"Now don't forget the rules of dueling Lilly, I _know_ you operate on the policy of 'she who strikes first wins' but you can't attack until the duel begins in earnest, you're obligated to follow the niceties as much as it grates on you," she interrupted her best friend there with a cocky grin spreading across her lips.

"That's why I normally hate dueling 'Mione," her eyes rolled up as she began tapping her chin with a forefinger looking thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "it's the same reason I hate chess as well actually, it isn't the way the real world operates." Hermione snorted and gave the bespectacled ravenette an amused smirk,

"Well sadly you can't just poison the ponce to win today, by the way did you figure out how to get him to duel a student?" Wagging her brows up and down Lilly's grin turned downright cheeky,

"There are upsides to being a daddy's girl my dear bookworm, watch and learn..." Eventually the grinning ponce known as Gildroy Lockhart stepped up on the table coughing loudly to get the surrounding students attention,

"My adoring public, I'm ever so pleased to announce the creation of Hogwarts first dueling club in over fifty years, my assistant professor Snape-" at that Lilly glanced to her dad who immediately looked like a bear that had just been poked with a sharp stick as he glared at Lockhart. Silently praying daddy could keep his wits together she tuned back in to the ponce "-has ever so delightfully offered to lend me his expertise, now we shall show you a proper duel!" Not moving a muscle the Potions Master glanced at Lillith then smiled ever so slightly,

"I believe my apprentice should be the one to demonstrate the skills I've taught, do you not agree?" Turning Lockhart noticed Lilly locking stares with Snape sharing a knowing smirk, his own grin didn't falter at all as he replied,

"Surely you don't think a twelve year old could hold herself against a full grown wizard?" Snape actually smiled, full fledged grinned actually and this caused a few first years to faint in panic as he responded,

"Don't call me Shirley, and my disciple is more than capable of protecting herself, Lillith, you are not to hold back outside of that which would have you judged," long short, don't use _too_Dark Arts, grinning she ran up to the table and did a quick handstand and flip to take her position. Lilly glanced about in confusion at the awe she heard from the student body at her act, she was honestly a bit lost for once, didn't any of them practice gymnastics and calisthenics? It was part of her and Hermione's basic Black training, shrugging the thought off for now she turned to the flaxen haired fool before her trying her best to suppress her grin,

"Terms of the duel are simple, no permanently debilitating curses and that's about it, dirty tricks are allowed if you can pull them off, agreed?" Lockhart nodded but she saw doubt in his eyes, good, approaching the man wand drawn Lilly bowed and about faced, approaching the end of the table she brandished her mothers wand waiting for the first move as she spun on her tip toe facing her foe. Lockhart didn't disappoint, as her dad declared the duel beginning Lockhart sent a stunner at her, rolling her eyes Lilly batted the spell into the ceiling and decided to play with the fool, with a muttered incantation the floor around his feet shifted and transmuted into grasping skeletal hands.

Lockhart, much to Lilly's amusement screeched like a first year girl as the sharp taloned nails held him in place cutting through his expensive robes as if they were butter, allowing her eyes to glow since they were behind tinted lenses Lilly began conjuring animals and sending them at the weighed down git, she'd contemplated magical beasts at first but honestly she felt honey badgers were the best choice for this situation. A lot of screaming, a large amount of blood, and a pair of sexually satisfied conjured animals later and Lockhart was a sobbing broken mess, glancing to her dad she shrugged as he gave her an approving nod,

"I'd say the victory goes to Miss Potter, well done," after that very few girls showed Lockhart the affection they had before the duel, getting torn apart and ruined by a twelve year old girl kind of hampered that sort of thing. Lilly personally didn't care one way or another, if she'd been allowed to actually fight the way she'd wanted to she'd have sundered his soul and tortured it for hours before allowing it to pass to the Other World, sadly the school would look down on that sort of thing.

So it was with very little surprise that Lilly got a detention from Lockhart in early February, for once she didn't deny it, she really _had_ been trying to get him pissed off enough to erupt and she'd accepted the punishment with grace. Hermione of course berated her for getting caught (not for committing the crime, goddess did she love that bushy haired prankster) and Lilly simply shrugged, what was one lost evening to the embarrassment she'd caused the man? Approaching Lockhart's offices Lilly rolled her eyes as she knocked on the door,

"Come on in young Lillith! I have a _special_ chore for you!" Groaning inwardly she pushed the door open and entered the portrait filled room, glancing about she refrained from rolling her eyes again upon the realization that every picture in the room was of her professor. Sitting in the empty seat she did her very best to not twiddle her thumbs in annoyance, Lockhart finally met her gaze and pushed a tray of tea and biscuits towards her.

Still grinning that goddess be damned smile he nodded towards the offered refreshments, "Oolong tea, not as traditional as a good breakfast tea but still quite good, you should try it." Lilly sighed and poured herself a cup before sipping it, she turned back to the professor who was grinning wider then earlier,

"What is my detention supposed to entail?" He nodded towards her cup before speaking,

"Where I'm from young lady we finish our snacks before we get down to business," _not_ refraining from an eyeroll this time Lilly downed the scalding drink in one gulp to get this over with, as the drink settled in her stomach she felt a weird heady feeling flood her senses. Glancing to Lockhart who was grinning widely now she had no time to react as he bellowed, "Confundus!"

As the spell hit Lilly she suddenly lost track of everything, her mind was torn in a thousand different directions at once, eyes roiling about she turned back to Lockhart who jabbed his wand into her forehead as he snarled out "Imperio!" Suddenly Lilly felt safe, secure, she had no idea why she had been panicking before, turning back to her professor she grinned as he began petting her cheek.

"So resistant, you know I tried casting that on you three separate times but it never took, had to obliviate you and that still ended in me acquiring a few third degree burns, glad I finally figured out the balance. Now, are you ready to be a good little girl?" Lilly felt her head nodding despite her resistance to it, she felt real unadulterated fury build in the back of her mind as her body stared at the professor in adoration, grinning even wider he leaned down and kissed the twelve year old forcing his tongue through her lips.

After a time he pulled back and began undoing his belt, "Now young lady, I do believe you wrote in one of your exams a rather lovely idea, it's about time you 'worked the shaft' don't you think?" As Lilly was forced to her knees and her hands began fishing into the blonde mans robes a malevolent entity known as Tom Marvolo Riddle began snapping the bindings on his charges mind, there was only one man allowed to touch his Lilly like that, and he was going to make all those who didn't recognize it remember the horrors of the Dark Lord Voldemort.

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**I need to take a shower, then I'm going to write the followup...fuck do I hate Lockhart, please forgive me guys it doesn't go _too_ far...well...Lets say Tom isn't happy and that'll be a good indicator...fucking hell I hate the fact this shit actually happens...alcohol...alcohol is a really good idea right now...anyway please review...**


	27. Say hello to Mr Hyde

**I was uncomfortable writing this scene, I'm throwing out trigger warnings to anyone whose been sexually assaulted before, I know this is mild compared to some of the stuff floating around on this site but still disliked everything about it. Yes it's short, but that's mostly because I intend to finish second year with the next chapter and I don't want it to start with a downer, plus I updated two days ago so really you all can't complain. **

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Lilly's mind was for all intents and purposes everywhere at the moment, if she wasn't so absolutely livid she'd probably give Lockhart a thumbs up for innovation, she never anticipated downing a will weakening potion at the same time as getting hit with a confundus charm and an imperius curse. A rather well thought out scheme really, that being said the unbridled rage building up in the back of her mind was enough to keep her focus despite the blonde mans best efforts.

Lilly tried not to panic as she realized that the hands guiding her along were leading to her being molested by her middle aged professor, attempting to not dwell on the fact that her robes and top were on the floor and her breasts were being roughly tweaked she did the only thing she could. She focused, as her hatred and rage became palpable she sent a feeler out towards the bit of her mind that housed Tom, getting a response she latched onto him like a castaway in a turbulent sea. New information flooded her mind and she soon realized her friend in her head was trying to work against this just as she was, feeling her friends reassurance that it would be all right she turned back to the task at hand.

As the tumblers of the locks restraining her mind were being spun by the picks and torsion bars of Tom Riddle Lilly soon felt her will being freed bit by bit, much to her horror though she regained full control with Lockhart's dick in her hand and her mouth open wide ready to take it in. Sensing her hesitation the bastard began stroking her hair, the intimate gesture somehow infuriating her more then the sexual assault, smirking down at the girl he asked,

"Is something wrong my Little Flower?" Teeth gritting she realized she was about to go into a panic attack, her wands were in the pile of her clothes on the other side of the room and her mind was still affected by Lockhart's spells so wandless was out of the question. Beginning to truly fear she was about to lose it Lilly felt a warm presence gently touch her consciousness,

"_Allow me,"_ Lilly didn't even hesitate as she let Tom take control, huddling in her own mind she couldn't help but wonder why these things always seemed to happen to her. Taking control Tom wasted no time as he spoke to Lockhart,

"Professor?" The man took an indulgent tone as he replied,

"Yes my dear?" Grinning Tom asked,

"Do you know what rhymes with fellatio?" There was a pause as Lockhart fidgeted uncomfortably,

"Err, no dear," Tom looked up and Lockhart gasped seeing the red points glowing behind the girls green glasses,

"Crucio," the wandless unforgivable was for all intents and purposes weak, but sending it through a mans nethers, well, it had the desired effect. Lockhart fell back screaming in agony as Tom stood and took stock of Lilly's condition, she was topless but her skirt and knickers were still in place, so there was that. Her budding chest had been roughed up and there was some bruising, that was unacceptable, outside of that she seemed to be more or less all right all things considered.

Cracking her neck to the side she approached her discarded clothes and pulled the uniform jumper on to retain some of his charges modesty, turning back to Lockhart who was now trying to stand Tom snorted in disdain.

"Yeah..." removing the glasses and placing them on the desk Tom's burning red eyes bored into the professor who was now pissing himself,

"Wha-what are you?!" He managed to sob out, Tom tapped Lilly's finger against her chin unconsciously mirroring one of her mannerisms,

"What, is rather simple, I'm a Horcrux, that is to say a soul fragment that bonded with Lilly when she was a youngster, in the aftermath of a very similar situation actually, more than likely _why_ she so readily gave me the drivers seat. No I think the question you truly want to ask is _who_ I am." Lockhart leaned against the desk holding his now flacid member in his hands as he whimpered,

"Who are you?" Grinning in a manner that did not at all fit the angelic twelve year olds face Tom cackled before replying,

"Lord Voldemort," much to Tom's annoyance Lockhart had now defecated himself, "Please stop making a mess I'm going to have enough of a hard time setting up a crime scene that will get you discredited without worrying about the smell." Summoning Lilly's Fae Wand Tom cast a cleaning charm on the now confused professor, sighing Tom jabbed the wand at the chair Lockhart had been lounging in previously, the man obeyed and stared at the possessed girl,

"What are you planning on doing?" Snorting derisively Tom drawled out,

"Simple, I'm going to obliviate the past five minutes from you, give you a massive concussion, set off the castles wards and leave Lilly in a compromising position. When her mother's wand as well as yours are examined the DMLE will realize what happened and well, the rest is history." Lockhart tried to jump up but Tom hit him with a weak stunner while rolling his eyes,

"See normally I'd just torture you for a few weeks than murder you because well, it's what I do to those that get in my way, but the thing is I know your type, if you died or disappeared you'd still be remembered for all that you've said you've done. Depending on the method of your death you might even become a martyr, that's unacceptable, because really, why _kill_ a man, when you can completely and utterly destroy him? So I'm going to make you look as guilty as possible while protecting my lovely friend, than I'm going to sit back and enjoy the show, hell maybe they'll even let her family work you over. Those old Pure-Blood 'Laws of Retribution' can be quite...interesting." Lockhart blinked rapidly trying to process all that he was told before he looked at Tom in confusion,

"The Headmaster says she lives with muggles," Tom felt one of Lillith's eyebrows raise before scratching the side of her nose murmuring,

"They...they still haven't figured it out? I mean...wow...well I'm not going to ruin the surprise for you, Obliviate!" After feeding Lockhart the play by play of what Lilly had done to save herself Tom removed her jumper and slipped her bra back on, he really didn't want to leave her exposed at all but the stage had to be set and this would at least save her modesty.

Sliding Lilly's Fae Wand into her school bag Tom pulled out her mother's wand and fired a low powered reductor curse at the desk, this sent Lockhart flying into the back wall as his head hit the stone with a meaty thump. Sighing Tom dug around Lilly's magic until he found her connection to the school wards, setting off the 'Imminent Danger' alarm (why it never seemed to work normally was beyond him) he then put her tinted lenses back on and pulled himself back into her mind.

As the girl's body collapsed in a heap Tom found himself in the ancient library he normally resided in; looking about for his charge he eventually found Lilly sobbing in the corner her legs tucked up to her chest and arms wrapped around her knees. He paused not wanting to startle her, changing his form to be closer to her age he took a knee and gently touched her shoulder, gasping she looked up sharply and stared at him in panic, after registering who it was she jumped forward and pulled him into a hug.

As he held her tightly he immediately regretted not torturing Lockhart on his own, as he rocked her back and forth Tom for the first time in his existence lamented his sociopathic personality, a bit of empathy would certainly make comforting his only friend easier. Eventually he decided to take a stab at being consoling,

"Shhh little one, we can't be strong all the time, and that's why we have each other..." that seemed to calm her down a bit, sighing he suddenly paused remembering a rather important fact, the girl had two aunts and her dad on staff at the school. While everything he'd said about destroying the mans reputation before he was punished was true the idea of Severus and Narcissa getting their hands on the git, well...that could be funny too.

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Amelia Bones plucked her monocle off as she leaned back into her chair rubbing her temples, last months "Lockhart Incident" was proving to be a monumental headache simply because of the shear scope of the world of lies the man had built around himself. While the young girls (and three boys) that he'd sexually assaulted were bad enough the fact that he'd gone after The-Girl-Who-Lived immediately put this case on the forefront of her understaffed departments queue, not that she'd have minded one way or another since her niece was one of the mans students as well.

She growled a bit at that, Lockhart was extremely lucky he'd not gone after Susan or he would likely never have made it out of Hogwarts, although that had still been sketchy, apparently most of the senior staff (and the groundskeeper, go figure) had tried to have a go at the man before the DMLE could drag him away. Amelia was more than a little weary of what the device she'd caught Narcissa Malfoy trying to attach to the mans crotch was but if she were to be honest it was more out of professional curiosity than any desire to pin a crime on the irate woman. A light knock on the door caught her attention, replacing her monocle she turned her chair to face her desk and tiredly called out,

"Come in," one of her better junior aurors entered the room, her normally vibrant hair was a wavy silky brown, it took Amelia a moment to realize this was probably the young woman's natural hair color. "Auror Tonks, to what do I owe pleasure?" She fidgeted about a moment before approaching the desk,

"Madam Bones, I...this is a family situation, and I need to make sure nothing that is said in this room gets to Headmaster Dumbledore," now this was interesting, her intelligence on young Nymphadora indicated she'd probably fall in with the old goats bird watchers. Her subordinate sat in the chair in front of Amelia's desk and watched her boss with bloodshot eyes, now more curious than anything Amelia drew out her wand and carefully worded her reply,

"All right, I Amelia Bones so swear that anything spoken about in this room for the next half hour involving Auror Nymphadora Tonks and her family shall remain between the two of us, so it is said so mote shall it be," there was a brief flash and suddenly the young Auror deflated as she mumbled,

"Thanks boss, mum would be furious if she knew I was going to talk about this but it needs to be done, she doesn't understand how ...sensitive this all is with an investigation going on, do you know who Lillith Potter's guardian is?" Looking a bit nonplussed Madam Bones cocked an eyebrow,

"Well according to Dumbledore he has her stay in a secure location in the muggle world, why do you ask?" Tonks blew a lock of her long hair out of her face then rubbed her eyes, reaching for the pitcher of water on the desk she poured herself a glass and downed it before continuing,

"That may have been true...up until about six years ago," Amelia leaned forward now resting her arms on her desk,

"Do tell..." Tonks hair shifted between different shades of blue as she began speaking, according to Moody blue meant anger, so this wasn't going to be good,

When Lillith was six she was raped nearly to death by her muggle uncle..." Amelia gasped at that and was about to speak when the younger woman raised her hand to continue, "Her magic held her together and as far as we could figure out she had a massive bout of accidental magic apparate her to a safe location. Incidentally the muggles died in a house fire that night," Amelia snorted at that but Tonks just shrugged obviously not caring one way or another who was responsible for their deaths accidental or otherwise.

"The person she ended up with was an old friend of her mums so we kinda figured her magic dragged her there, he got her to Saint Mungo's and my mum happened to be the healer on duty." Amelia was starting to see where this was going,

"Let me guess, Lillith became something more than just The-Girl-Who-Lived to your family," Nymphadora actually surprised her with the venomous glare she sent her way,

"She's my little sister, technically we're cousins but, ugh...so much happened back then and I was just a kid, it ended up that all of Lillith's potential guardians were either killed, incapacitated, or sidelined, the man she apparated to ended up being the only _legal_ guardian that wasn't dead or in Azkaban at the time. He did his best to raise her but he was only one man so Lillith spent most of the past six years of her life living with mum, dad and myself while occasionally staying with the Lupin's and Malfoy's, and the reason I'm telling you all this is...Dumbledore is more then likely the one who arranged for Lillith to end up with those muggles...and he thinks they're still alive and that she still stays with them."

Taking all this in Amelia felt a true migraine beginning to form, reaching into her desk she pulled out a bottle and a pair of glasses, pouring them each a few fingers of the aged scotch Amelia took a sip before replying,

"Let me guess, if the Headmaster actually did arrange for a series of convoluted events to occur where he'd take control of this girls life and he finds out she's not only been raised in the magical world but by 'dark' families..." Tonks downed the drink in one go before coughing and nodding,

"It would be bad for everyone involved, especially her legal guardian since it's Dumbledore's word keeping him out of Azkaban," sighing Amelia silently cursed Gildroy Lockhart for the thousandth time today,

"And if Lilly is dragged into this Lockhart mess and made to testify her guardian would have to make an appearance..." Amelia poured the rest of the bottle into the two glasses before taking in a deep breath, "Ok than...who is her legal guardian." The young auror snorted in amusement as she sipped her scotch,

"Severus Snape," Amelia choked on her drink at that and began coughing, Tonks filled the water glass again and slid it to her boss who quickly washed the burning alcohol away. Mind racing she tried to figure out what to do about this situation, the girl being raised by a Death Eater and dark families was disturbing of course but she'd saved Susan's life from a troll and by all accounts was a decent kid. If Dumbledore was trying to groom her into some sort of weapon, be it literal or political Amelia rather owed it to her to keep her safe, mulling it over a moment she came to a decision, since Lillith was the last one to be attacked by Lockhart she'd testify last. If Lockhart fell off the boat on the way back from Azkaban well, no one had bothered telling the head of the DMLE the man didn't know how to swim.

"Don't worry about it Junior Auror, I'll take care of it and your secrets are safe with me, I do owe her for protecting my niece after all," the young woman seemed to relax all at once and muttered a subdued thank you, cocking her head to the side Amelia decided to get to know her subordinate a bit more, and the best way to do that was to get them to talk about something they love. "Tell me Auror Tonks, what's your little sister like?"

She listened to the vibrant haired young woman gush about her favorite family member for over a half hour, after dismissing her now upbeat subordinate Amelia swirled the last of her drink in the glass before downing it. "I think she's worth protecting, time will only tell though..."

* * *

**Just like Tom said, we can't be strong all the time, one of the points I've tried to make with Lillith is she is brilliant, conniving, ruthless, and _twelve_, she is not a Mary Sue she has her faults and weaknesses, rape happens to be her trigger and she reacts to it in two ways; near catatonic despair, or extreme violence, it's a flip of the coin luckily she always has a friend to back her up.**

**As for Madam Bones in my mind she's the only competent head of any department in the ministry, she's a hardened war veteran without a taste for politics and is thoroughly disgusted with the revolving door that is Azkaban (if you have the money and connections that is). So I can see her being swayed to look after the girl that protected her niece especially since she A.)Dislikes Dumbledore and B.)Despises Lockhart. If you think I mangled her character let me know.**

**I'm going to go write the outline for third year now, not sure what to do with it honestly since I really can't imagine anyone sending Dementors after Wormtail, although I had a really amusing idea about a penpal that ****Philosophize helped me come up.**** Ah well I'll figure something out, anyway please review.**


	28. Death in the Family

**I really hated last chapter, alot, I mean it needed to be written, but I needed some personal closure so here it is, Lillith's connection to Morgana and the Morrigan, short and sweet.**

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Lillith came to in a darkened study, the only light being supplied being that from the well stoked fireplace, the flickering shadows played games with her eyes giving the vaguest of shapes to the various books and knick knacks above the mantle. Glancing to the side table next to the well stuffed chair she found herself in she saw a mirrored serving tray with a bottle of amber liquid and a crystal snifter glass atop it. Looking down she wasn't surprised to see an older version of herself, even in her middle years she was still a startlingly attractive woman, the laugh lines along her eyes and mouth only adding to the overall image of someone who lived a long happy life.

She glared at the drink in contempt and as her scowl hardened she heard a deep rasping laugh not far from her, looking up she found herself staring at a cloaked figure lounging in a chair identical to her own. The figure took a sip from its own snifter and she felt her eyes widen when she realized it's skeletal hands had bits of rotting flesh hanging from the exposed bones, the figure nodded it's cowled head towards the drink before speaking in a slightly mocking tone.

"I do understand your apprehension daughter of Ignotus, but fear not it is not laced with anything, it is but a facsimile of what true brandy tastes like, you are currently in what your kind refer to as a mindscape, my own in fact." Lillith stared at the imposing figure a moment before sighing and pouring herself a glass of the brandy, she twirled the snifter about sloshing the liquid around but not indulging in the drink.

"Why am I here, what's going on, and most importantly am I dead?" Snorting the figure twirled it's free hand about as it replied,

"You're here because you need to be, this is an...intervention of sorts, and you are most assuredly _not_ dead, the last Peverell cannot pass until there is an heir to carry the standard of Death after all." The young girl in the middle aged woman's body sighed and without thought downed the glass and refilled it, the dark figure laughed sending a light breeze her way. What surprised her was the scent of this new wind was that of flowers, of a springs dawn, of life anew.

Who knew Death reeked of rebirth?

"So...Death...what is this an intervention for?" Death, for that was most assuredly who her host was leaned back into his seat before sipping his drink, while she saw no face in the shadowy depths of his cloaked cowl the glass was significantly emptier than it was beforehand.

"My daughter, your kind know her as Morrigan by the way, is worried that her line is soon to perish through you, _her_ daughter Morgana had placed a spell on her bloodline to make sure that never happened but...well." If at all possible Death seems a bit sheepish before he continued, "You see dear girl the Peverell line had been cursed thanks to your many times removed great grandsire but..." Lillith's emerald eyes widened a bit as she began understanding,

"But Ignotus' line was combined with your own through my grandparents..." Death nodded slowly draining his glass,

"Quite so, and that brings us to an impasse, I have to of course lift the Peverell curse off of you if I hope to stop Morrigan and Morgana's whinging, not that they don't have a point it really has gone too far at this point. But I digress that leaves the crossroad we find ourselves at, you are _my_ last mortal relative, and you've already been violated once, and nearly a second time...that is not...acceptable." Lillith snorted while rolling her eyes,

"Yes because I so wanted to endure the lovely experience of _rape_ grandfather, please drop the pretenses, what the fuck do you want?" Stiffening Death tilted his head a bit,

"So much of your mother in you, Lily never feared the Reaper, she even cursed me out as I tried to collect her, despite what a prick Fate was to her Destiny always had a soft spot for the firebrand that's why she allowed her little protection spell to work on you. Good thing too, I wasn't paying attention at the time and all those layered curses and prophecies could have had reality unwind if you'd died." Lillith rubbed her nose a moment before firmly stating,

"Grandfather, you are getting sidetracked," Death paused, then laughed again,

"Quite so, my apologies my interactions with mortal souls are quite limited, they usually just entail a large amount of begging and or negotiating. What I'm getting at is you're protected...to an extent from similar assaults from here on out, there are a great many tasks on your shoulders and having to deal with this sort of...trauma...would be rather problematic..." Lillith just stared at him a moment before sighing,

"You're a rather callous ma...being aren't you?" Death shrugged as he stood and approached her, grasping her chin he titled her head up to meet his unseen gaze,

"I am what I am needed to be, now my many times removed daughter, it is time for you to awaken, and please keep on going as you have, it is so entertaining to watch those who don't fear the blade of the reaper carry on."

With a gasp Lilly awoke looking about frantically realizing that once again she was in what she'd taken to calling _her_ bed of the hospital wing at Hogwarts, seeing the small fox snoozing at her feet she couldn't help but sob out a small laugh. Snatching up Hermione in her animagus form she pulled her close and drifted back to sleep, vaguely wondering if that was all a dream, the last thing she heard was an amused whisper that smelled of fruit blossoms,

"It wasn't."

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**Short but it's only been a day since I updated so please keep in mind this was just sort of for me to not hate myself, please review**


	29. A Dental Emergency

_**Holy hell this chapter kept writing itself, as for last chapter it more or less took place anytime after Tom got to stretch his legs, Lilly's ended up in the hospital wing at least twice a week since the incident for calming draughts, she...isn't handling what happened very well for obvious reasons. Anyway ALOT happening in this chapter so I hope you all enjoy and REVIEW!**_

_**Side Note-As for Lilly's character traits, I kind of see her as a twisted blend of Ruby Rose from RWBY and Admiral Helena Cain from Battlestar Galactica, when I mentioned that to a friend her immediate response was "Oh dear lord those poor bastards", I tend to agree.**_

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The trial of Gildroy Lockhart had become at best a media spectacle, the high profile author's transgressions apparently going beyond being a pedophile and rapist; more than two dozen accounts of illegal obliviations had been tagged onto the charges as his sordid past was revealed. Each subsequent day more lies were unraveled and more charges were stacked on the heap, Lilly wasn't shocked in the slightest anyone who paid attention to the bastard could tell he was a fraud. Still her day in court was approaching soon and while she was willing to testify the thought of seeing the man in person, even if he was in chains, tore at her.

On top of that there was the family history journals she'd gotten from Padfoot, her Godfather had found them while clearing out one of 12 Grimmauld Place's various storerooms; considering who the author of many of the early ones was the Grimm animagus was rightly confused as to why they were hidden rather then being put on display for all to see. Sirius not being one to actually go through and read stacks of ancient tomes had offered them to her while she was recovering from the ...incident... and after several days of reading she knew why someone would want to hide them and it made her rather sick.

Deciding she needed some air and time to think Lilly lightly padded her way out of her dorm and through the common room, the hallways were all silent and empty of patrols so it took her very little time to get to the Astronomy Tower. After trudging up the stairs she opened the trap door peeking out, now sure that the coast was clear she threw the door fully open and and sat down in the center of the open air floor. Laying back she relaxed and just stared into the night sky letting her thoughts wander about, after a time a small smile formed on her face as she listened to the chirps of crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl.

Lilly loved the night, she loved the sharp contrast of the stars, the moon, and the dark blue sky, she sometimes wondered if it was her Black heritage at work, her affiliation for the constellations ingrained to the point where it actually _impressed_ Professor Sinestra. Thankfully though tonight there was no astronomy class so she would remain alone, aside from her newly hatched Emberscale that is. She'd named her Nelle and for some reason she couldn't help but feel the obsidian snake was akin to her first daughter.

Stroking the slumbering serpent curled about her left wrist she stared up at the constellations, she could clearly see Libra, Virgo and Aquila, she wasn't content until she found Serpens most beautifully named star in the constellation, Alya, meant heavenly or, a bit more stodgily 'divine' in Arabic and Lilly loved the name, if she ever had a (human) daughter she intended to gift her with the moniker as was proper of a Black.

Still staring up at the brilliant spring sky Nelle flexed a bit and lifted her head before speaking,

"_Mother, apes approach"_ snorting at the snake's annoyance Lilly stroked her head a few times and hissed back,

"_Let them come my precious, we will see who they are before I let you strike," _the snake hissed in annoyance before curling back up, Lilly smirked a bit at the over protective nature of her newest familiar as she waited for the arrivals. The wait as it ended up was not long at all, she well...it was odd, ever since the incident with Lockhart she could _feel_ others magic, so she knew immediately that it was her boys and Hermione. They stood in silence for a few moments so Lilly took the initiative to speak first,

"Morgana le Fae broke away from the petty bickering of the Tuatha Dé Danann and founded the city state of Avalon where she ruled for some time. Eventually during the 700's CE her spats with Merlin got to the point where she threw her hands up in frustration and walked away changing her name to Black in the process. She helped found magical Britains aristocracy as one of The Thirteen original families and walked the thin line of being a Dark Lady without being evil and her daughter's followed her march but things got...wonky a couple hundred years ago."

Her friends remained silent, probably confused at the non sequitur but she continued regardless, "See some _man_ got it in his head that the gifts of Morgana were his by birthright. I'm being literal, he was first born so he thought that he should be the head of house despite having no skills in the field of politics, long short he won via assassination." Lilly sighed in annoyance while Nelle slithered up her arm and rested on her chest, the glistening fires in her core glimpsed through her scales only as she moved.

Lilly began stroking the snake absently as she continued, "That's when the whole 'Pure-Blood Prerogative' gained traction, no sense behind it, just a bunch of petty bastards who insisted that their inadequacies were positives. HA! Its a giant joke isn't it? The Half-Blood that everyone puts their hopes in ancestors were the progenitors of all the racism...I'm...I feel disgusting... After everything I just-" she was cut off at that.

Hermione, Blaise, and Draco all wrapped her in tight hugs ignoring the snake on her chest who for her part looked at the humans in annoyance while she slithered around Lilly's neck then promptly went back to sleep.

"Shut it Lilly, we love you and you are _not_ disgusting," Blaise's voice took a tone she'd never heard before, looking to the dark skinned boy she was shocked as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. She felt an electric trill flit up her spine as the boy pulled away, his honey amber eyes glowing with anger. "You, Lillith Potter are my family, and I'll always be at your side, and don't you ever even _think_ that I will judge you unfairly, you are my sister in all but blood."

Lilly nearly lost it there when Draco leaned down and kissed her cheek,

"Lilly, you're family, and while you get us in some rather interesting situations I don't regret any of them, I care about you more then you can comprehend. Even Mother lets our antics slide due to who you are, it isn't 'The-Girl-Who-Lived' or any of that tripe either, Lilly, you're special." As Draco pulled back Hermione sighed lightly,

"Lilly, a lot has happened that you're blaming yourself for, the Acromantula's, Lockhart, so on and so forth but you need to understand one thing and one thing only." Lilly stared up into her best friends eyes as the universe twirled around her bushy hair, smiling a smile only a Potter could produce she snarked out,

"And whats that 'Mione?" The girl above her sighed and leaned down kissing her lips gently, the boys couldn't see it due to the brown eyed girls hair but Lilly felt her eyelids widen in shock as Hermione sat back up.

"You need to understand that you're worth being loved, despite what those monster muggles made you think, I know your real family has tried their best to bury what was done to you with affection but it's still there deep down inside. Don't let it control your decisions, we'll always be there so you won't forget that you are loved." Lilly's friends wished her a good evening as they stood to leave, panicking LIlly sat up and cried out,

"Wait!" The three stopped and turned around, chewing her lip she debated on whether to go through with this, sighing she spoke to Tom,

"_I'm going to tell them everything,"_ there was a pause before he cautiously replied,

"_Are you sure love? If they don't take it well it could present...problems,"_ she let out a shuddering breath,

"I...can't take lying to you guys anymore, I've...obviously got secrets, manipulations, and schemes going on but...I can't go on pretending that it's ok to keep so much from my three closest friends." The three exchanged looks not really seeming that surprised, nodding they moved back to her, they noted that Lilly was quickly writing a complex rune on the stone floor with a bit of chalk. After she was done she tapped it with her wand and a light blue glow began emanating from rune, Draco looked fairly impressed with the finished product and expressed such.

"That's a rather advanced bit of work right there, Mother tutors me on runes and I've never seen a privacy ward quite like that," Lillith remained silent and began pacing about with her arms behind her back before stopping and turning to face the small group.

"I...you have no idea how hard this is to talk about...some of it Hermione and Sally know but not all of it...not the really...dark parts..." Hermione's eyes widened as she realized what was about to be discussed,

"Lilly are sure you want to talk about this now? After what happened? I mean I'd understand if you-" Lilly lifted her hand and placed a finger to Hermione's lips silencing her, giving her best friend an affectionate smile she slowly shook her head.

"It's been a long time coming 'Mione, eventually what happened will get out just like all secrets do, best they hear it from me, besides they'll need some...context... to the rest." Hermione looked like she was about to cry but simply nodded, Blaise leaned over lightly whispering to Draco,

"Something tells me we are not going to like this a single bit," nodding sullenly Draco kept quiet as Lilly continued,

"First, as far as my family has been able to piece together there was a prophecy made declaring me the only one who could kill Voldemort, Professor Snape who was a Death Eater at the time overheard the prophecy being given to Dumbledore and reported it to the Dark Lord." There was three very loud gasps at this as well as some severe confusion but Lilly continued unabated,

"See, the prophecy didn't actually point directly at me, it was gender neutral and could have been either myself or Neville, since I was a Half-Blood just like Voldemort I won the coin toss, yay me. Well, it ends up Professor Snape had been long time friends with my mum, they'd had a falling out when in school but they ironed things out right before mum and dad got married. When he found out Voldemort was going after my family well, he freaked and ran to Dumbledore warning him," she sighed and waited for her friends to absorb this, Hermione spoke up in a quiet voice first.

"So, that's why a known Death Eater works at the school, I'd wondered about that, not that he isn't an amazing teacher to well...Slytherin's at least but it was always a bit confusing," Lilly sighed while letting Nelle wrap around her splayed fingers.

"Yeah, so the trade off for protecting my family was the Professor had to play spy against Voldemort, Dumbledore put my parents behind the Fidelius Charm and the rest is history, except for the fact that Dumbledore knew Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper...and that he was a traitor." Draco cursed a few times and it was a testament to the impact the news was having on her friends that Hermione didn't chide him, pausing the blonde boy scratched his scalp in frustration.

"He set your family up! Why!? Why would the supposed 'Leader of the Light' sell out one of his primary supporters and the supposed prophesied one!?" She gave the boy a fond sad smile while shaking her head,

"Because Little Dragon, 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equal, but they will have power the Dark Lord knows not...', understand now?" All three looked sick as they adsorbed this, Blaise gave her a knowing look while shaking his head,

"Your scar," nodding while sitting back on the ground pulling her knees to her chest Lilly looked so small and broken at that moment,

"Yup...had to get his weapon marked, anyway after my parents were murdered and Voldemort got hit with an AK ricochet the Longbottom's were given the all clear to come out of hiding since they too were potential targets. They were killed the next day, Sirius was then nabbed for supposedly betraying my parents and the muggle murder thing and was tossed in Azkaban without a trial as you know...by the order of Albus Dumbledore."

She looked up and they could see her eyes beginning to glow as rage boiled below the surface, "Alice Longbottom was my Godmother, Neville grew up without his parents because Dumbledore needed her out of the way, my godfather spent five years in hell because he was the next legal guardian after her. And...well, he kept obliviating my final guardian every time he tried to leave Hogwarts, conveniently Severus Snape was always in arms reach and had to let the Headmaster know when he was leaving the castle..."

"Shit," was Blaise's rather succicnt response, he turned on Draco while asking,

"Did you know Professor Snape was her guardian?" Draco shrugged a bit,

"I got the implication he was, no one ever straight out said it, they usually try to dance around the subject," turning to Hermione Blaise raised an eyebrow and she nodded,

"Since before we went to Hogwarts, I met her and her Aunt Bellatrix a year before she got her letter," sighing Blaise turned back to Lilly shaking his head giving her a wry smile,

"It's obvious really, once you put the pieces together," Lilly snorted at that giving him a warm smile,

"Well Dumbles still hasn't figured it out, kinda funny that...anyway I got ditched with my mum's bitch sister and her two pet whales colloquially known as my cousin Dudley and my 'Uncle' Vernon. Life for me with the Dursley's was hell, I was treated like a house elf, beaten, starved and...molested..."

Hermione had at this point sat next to her wrapping an arm around her shoulders, leaning into the hug she whispered her thanks before continuing. "When I was five I found out my name was Lillith, up to that point I'd only been called 'Girl' or 'Freak' depending on their moods, one lovely day Vernon came home exceptionally drunk, after dutifully making his dinner like a good little slave he...did something new. I had no idea what was going on when he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me upstairs. I..."

Tears now freely rolling down her cheeks she didn't dare to glance up and see what looks her friends were giving her, "I...he raped me...I was six and I was raped, he destroyed my pelvis, broke both my femurs, and tore me apart enough that I'm shocked I hadn't died from blood loss before he threw me back into my cupboard under the stairs..."

Lilly felt like she was going to throw up, reliving that night was something she tried to avoid at all costs, the only times she ever thought about it was as a focus for her hatred while casting Dark spells. What made it worse was she didn't know if she was going to lose her friends over the next revelation, but if she wanted them to trust her...

"I...was so happy I was about to die...I was glad the pain, the hunger, the loneliness was about to end, dying seemed like a small price to pay. How messed up is that? Then I heard a voice in my head, I figured I was just going crazy so I started talking with him, why not I was dying right?" Draco and Blaise were now sitting in front her both with unreadable expressions,

"Lilly, what...what do you mean you heard a voice?" Blaise asked with an alarming amount of trepidation, she let out a sobbing laugh as she used her sleeve to wipe the makeup off her forehead exposing her trademark scar.

"You three are the only ones I've ever told this to...I'd demand vows of silence but...it'd defeat the purpose of putting my trust in you now wouldn't it?" She sniffled and steeled herself preparing for the worst. "The night Voldemort tried to murder me? Well he left a bit of a surprise in my head...more precisally a piece of his soul," Hermione stiffened next to her while the boys jaws dropped and eyes widened. Utilizing their shock she pushed onward,

"It was the most bizarre thing in the world, the man who murdered my family and got me into that situation offered to help me. Apparently Voldemort was terrified of death to the point were merging with me was better then dying with me, so as I died my mothers protection on me faded and the soul shard was freed."

She let out another almost manic sobbing laugh as she continued on, "The funny thing is when 1/32 of the darkest of souls merges with a pure whole one, somethings...lost in the process. Most of what made Voldemort the vilest cruelest man in Britain burned off, in the end all that was left was Tom Riddle, I...I don't recall exactly what I did when he restarted my heart and pulled my body back together enough to walk but...I remember enough." daring to look up she was pleased no one had made any motions of leaving.

"I killed the Dursley's that night, I felt no remorse, no sadness for my actions, I burned them all alive locked in their house, and I didn't care...a murderer at six, think that might actually be a record. After that Tom told me to get to daddy...err I mean Professor Snape, using the last bit of magic left in me I apparated to Spinners End and... well, the rest you pretty much know. I was raised by the Black sisters, Professor Snape, and my Uncles. I..." She didn't know what else to say after that, it would appear none of them did really. Eventually Hermione whispered,

"So...who are you? Lilly or V-Voldemort?" Sighing and feeling her heart break a bit at the question Lilly looked up and met Hermione's teary gaze,

"I'm me, I'm not the same girl I was before I died in that cupboard, but I don't _want_ to be her ever again, she was weak, timid, a slave, just chattel to be used by those stronger then her. Sure I have a voice in the back of my head who keeps insisting we take over the world, but he's also a guardian when I get into trouble, a teacher when he feels I'm ready, and a friend when I feel alone." She shrugged not knowing what else to say so she busied herself petting Nelle who hissed her approval of the ministrations, eventually Blaise spoke,

"So, if Voldemort is in your head-" Lilly looked up and interrupted him there,

"Not Voldemort, Tom, he's still a socipathic megalomaniac sure but he isn't evil, in fact he's what saved me from Lockhart, I...I started locking up, having a panic attack. When I broke through the imperius I was still confunded and drugged, I...I had Lockhart's..." she shuddered and began stammering, "I-I-I had his pe-penis in my hand... he was pushing my m-mouth down towards it and Tom offered to take c-control. I was scared I did I-..." For the first time ever her friends saw her break down, as she sobbed into her hands she was shocked to feel herself hauled up off the ground and pulled into a tight hug.

The shoulder she was crying on smelled of soap and sandelwood, the arms wrapped around her waist the only thing keeping her from falling back to the ground, Nelle coiled around her wrist in annoyance but did not hiss thankfully. After a time Draco whispered in her ear his normal lazy drawl noticeably missing,

"If he saved you from that bastard than as far as I'm concerned he's all right in my books, I'm sorry you had to go through that all again, we're all going to need time to digest this but...we won't abandon you, isn't that right?" He raised his voice a bit and Lilly broke the embrace to turn to Blaise and Hermione, Blaise nodded slowly and pulled her into another hug,

"No worries Lils, if it's any consolation if you hadn't already killed those bloody muggles well...my mother is known as the Black Widow for more than just her multiple marriages," Lilly managed a sobbing laugh at that as he let her go. Turning to Hermione her best friend stared at her in worry before pulling her into yet another hug, dropping her voice to a whisper she spoke directly into Lilly's ear,

"Can Tom hear me now?" Lilly nodded in apprehension as Hermione tightened the hug to near rib cracking,

"Listen well you son of a bitch, Lillith is my first, best, and most treasured friend, if you do _anything_ to hurt her or lead her into the madness you did with your Death Eaters I'll personally find a way to tear your soul from her body, jam it into a pig and slow roast it alive, are we clear?" Lilly was stunned at the venom in her friends voice but Tom spoke up regardless,

"_Huh, knew I liked her for a reason, tell her I understand and I agree to her terms,"_ Lilly relayed the message and Hermione released her nodding once,

"Good, now that that is settled I think we should bring the boys up to speed on all our machinations don't you think?" Lilly nodded as she let out a tired breath,

"I agree...but can it wait till tomorrow?" Her friends nodded their understanding and began following her down the hatch leaving the tower in a bit of a haze, as they reached the common room they froze seeing Professor Snape standing in the doorway looking quite cross. Sighing the group approached him and upon seeing Lilly's tear stained face and red eyes his posture immediately softened,

"Miss Potter, what exactly are you doing out past curfew," Lilly stared at him a moment before she rushed forward and pulled him into a tight hug, surprised he responded as all good fathers do and wrapped his arms around her and tried to placate his daughter as she began crying. Looking up at his other three students he was at a loss as what to do but was saved further worry by Blaise,

"Don't worry Professor, we know who you are to her, your secrets safe with us," Draco nodded and pointed off to the doorway leading to the Professor's office,

"Might want to take it to a more private setting Uncle Sev," nodding he got Lilly moving slowly as he met Hermione's gaze as she tapped her forehead, getting her meaning he looked into her mind as she pushed forth a phrase through her mental barriers.

"_She's finally ready to talk about what happened,"_ he gave her a curt nod as he led Lilly off to his offices, it was going to be a sleepless night but at least he could finally help his daughter begin to heal, and really what was a bit of missed sleep when he had an ample supply of coffee?

* * *

Gildroy Lockhart looked like he had aged thirty years in his three month stay in Hotel Azkaban, his once perfect hair was matted with filth and going grey, his once brilliant smile was yellowing and his once impeccably tanned skin was sallow and sagging; all together Kingsley Shacklebolt thought the man now resembled the soul within. Smacking the butt of his wand against the steel bars of the mans cell Kingsley's deep voice boomed out,

"Wake up Lockhart, tomorrows the final testimony and you need to be made presentable," Lockhart seemed to pull himself out of whatever bad memory he was caught in and quickly shambled to his feet, his wild eyed gaze showing glee at being taken away from the island and its dementors.

"Well I can't but hope my adoring public will be there to greet me," rolling his eyes Kingsley turned to his partner who was eyeing the ragged man with pure loathing, her hair had gone short and spiky while fluctuating through various shades of neon blue,

"You're lucky the Ministry has kept your final victims identity on the downlow Lockhart, there's already a proverbial shite storm about everything else you did, molesting The-Girl-Who-Lived? Well, that's just not cricket now is it?" Tonks pushed the man towards the docks as he laughed lightly,

"Ah dear sweet Lillith, she was a bit younger than I like my girls but I had to put her in her place for embarrassing me like that, it's what happens when you cross the rich and famous after all," Tonks was reaching for her Glock ready to blast the back of the mans head open right there but Kingsley grabbed her wrist and pulled her arm to her side.

"Not now Tonks, he's going to get what he deserves eventually, as for you I have no idea if you're truly stupid enough to taunt aurors about sexually assaulting children or if your minds just going from the dementors but I highly suggest you shut your mouth for your own good." Still smiling a semi-lucid smile Lockhart just grinned wider and shrugged, Tonks stepped forward and clapped a heavy pair of iron manacles to Lockharts wrists making sure they were uncomfortably tight, he frowned down at the thick chains and began to whinge.

"These are a little heavy don't you think?" Tonks rolled her eyes and pushed the man into the boat followed by Kingsley and the ferryman, it was a two hour ride back to the mainland and it was quite chilly out so the ferryman passed some hot coffee to the two aurors and chatted with them idly. An hour into the trip the ferryman pulled out a small pocket watch and nodded thoughtfully, walking between the aurors he pulled Lockhart up off his seat, the prisoner glared at the hooded figure a moment before snapping out, "What!"

"Times up," was all the man said as he pushed Lockhart over the edge with a yelp, the iron chains and manacles dragging him down almost instantly, turning to the shocked aurors the ferryman winked one silver gray eye and portkeyed away, blinking Tonks turned to Kingsley as she asked the obvious question,

"What the hell was that?" Kingsley didn't know, but what he _did_ know was only ministry issued portkeys worked within the vicinity of Azkaban and even then only ones issued by the DMLE, and more specifically they had to be handed out by the director herself. Resisting the urge to smile he turned back to look over the edge of the boat and shrugged,

"It would appear Mr. Lockhart did not know how to swim, a pity."

The portkey dropped Sirius Black into a large dim chamber, stretching out the kinks he always got from the wizarding transportation he shucked off the ferryman robes and slid on the black duster waiting on a wall peg, checking his watch again he waited roughly thirty seconds when there was a flash of light, rush of salt water, and alot of gagging. Approaching the steel cage and it's new guest the old Marauder grinned widely,

"Moony, take a look I caught a clown fish!" The half drowned Lockhart looked up through the bars and squinted trying to make out the figure in the dim light, there was a snort across the room as the werewolf approached the cage,

"You've been waiting all week to say that haven't you Padfoot?" Sirius threw him a lopsided grin his eyes swimming with manic energy,

"Most assuredly, now where to begin?" Turning back to Lockhart Sirius' grin became feral, "First I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Lord Sirius Black, this is my hetero-life partner Remus Lupin, we also happen to be Lillith Potters godfathers. The third member of our little entourage who will be here shortly is miss Bellatrix Lupin nee Black, she's Lilly's aunt but they've got more of a mother/daughter relationship."

Remus smirked as his heightened senses alerted him to the fact Lockhart had just pissed himself, good the man knew how fucked he was, "Now as for where you are well, this is the 'Black Dungeon'. Has quite an ominous ring to it don't you think? Haven't used it myself before I was never really into the darker shite my family was known for but for you my friend, I spruced it up so we could have...such a wonderful time."

"Wha-what are you going to do to me?" Smirking Remus leaned forward enough so Lockhart could see the gold glow of his eyes, the wolf was so near the surface right now, it sensed this was the man who hurt his pup and he demanded blood, luckily for it Remus was going to indulge this once,

"Well I believe the better question is what _aren't_ we going to do to you? See there is just so many interesting contraptions down here, Cissy has the auto-castrator still but I have a vegetable peeler that outta do the trick, although my wife said she had something really special planned for you but she had to make a pit stop at Crawley to get it." There was the creak of a heavy door opening and the room was flooded with light, this exposed several instruments on the wall that Lockhart most certainly didn't want to become familiar with.

Turning around Remus calmly greeted the new arrival, "Hello love, get everything you need?" There was a disturbingly bubbly quality to the voice that replied, like she was trying to restrain some pent up excitement.

"'Ello 'ello my lovely fuzzy hubby, sorry I'm a bit late the Granger's went into extreme detail on how to operate this stuff when I explained what it was for, did you know Dan was ex-military and trained in interrogation techniques? Not as accurate as veritaserum obviously but far more entertaining! Did the portkeys Madam Bones gave you work out Sirius?" Smiling at the batty witch Sirius nodded in greeting,

"Hello Bella, and yes they worked like a charm, poor Nymphadora didn't even realize the manacles were enchanted, although I dare say we'll have to let her in on the fun at some point," turning back to Lockhart Sirius stunned him and opened the cage. Levitating the limp form he unceremoniously dropped him into a large chair covered in leather straps, tapping a rune on the back of the chair the straps secured themselves against Lockhart with harsh whipping motions that were painful enough to wake the man up.

Looking around with panic in his eyes he was about to speak when he was hit with a silencing charm, Bellatrix pushed a cart over and opened one of the stainless steel cases the Doctors Granger had gifted her with, the strange instruments the woman laid on the table both confused and terrified the Pure-Blood wizard. Hooking up the portable power supply Bella picked up one of the instruments and it let out a high pitched whine that set everyone present nerves on edge, grinning Bella forced Lockhart's mouth open while jamming a wedge between one side of his jaw to keep it wide.

"Now, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the concepts of dentistry but never fear, I just had a two hour tutorial from a pair of professionals who happen to be the parents of Lillith's best friend, now Gildy, say 'Ah'."

* * *

**Potters die for their loved ones, Blacks kill for their's.**


	30. Exams, Epiphanies, and Educators

**Writers block, I was going to have this chapter lead directly into summer but for the life of me I just didn't have the energy, still trying to figure out third year, I'm considering having _some_ Dementors sent out to chase Peter just because Harry learning the Patronus charm was such a big deal, still haven't decided on that. As for the Pen Pal idea I was considering having Bella find a way for Lilly to start exchanging letters with Grindelwald, one would be conqueror to another if you will, what do you guys think? Anyway shortish chapter but not my shortest by a long shot, and since I don't proscribe to unnecessary Weasley bashing we're having some character development in that department, it will make fourth year more interesting, anyway as always please REVIEW!**

* * *

End of term was always chaotic at Hogwarts, the students were either bundles of wound up nerves ready to breakdown at any moment or entering a post-exam vegetative state that made them essentially useless for anything outside of pulling off a rather splendid impersonation of an owl perch. The professors themselves switched from tea to coffee (or in Severus' case coffee to irish coffee) and did their best to get through the massive backlog of grading while the O.W.L and N.E.W.T testing went on in the background, all while the gossip of this years scandals marred everything.

"This years Defense exams are quite possibly the worst I've ever seen," Severus sighed as he tossed a parchment onto the 'graded' pile in exasperation. Filius made a noncommittal hum as his quill scratched red ink across one of the more poorly done exams; the four heads of house were not for the first time splitting up the grading of the Defense Against the Dark finals due to the departure of said classes Professor. None of them, not even the near perpetually cheerful Pomona or relaxed Filius looked forward to it for the obvious reason, the students had largely learned nothing and the evidence was as they say written on the walls.

"Yes...it makes you wonder how bad next years Professor is going to be," Pomona sighed out in resignation, Minerva glanced up over her glasses while snorting disdainfully,

"I sincerely doubt it could get much worse then that blonde buffoon, how he even got the job without credentials is beyond me," before responding Severus had to suppress the urge to smirk at the neat handwriting of the next exam to be graded. Hermione's essays were always amusing since they were usually rather verbose but tinted with a hint of sarcasm she'd picked up from his daughter, always a bit of a treat to break up the monotony. Flicking his eyes up to meet Minerva's he shrugged slightly,

"From what Lucius tells me the man approached each member of the board of governors with a parchment endorsing his entry of the position signed by all other said members, assuming their compatriots found him worthwhile they too signed. Low and behold each one was a forgery but at the end of the day, he had all the boards signatures, clever and almost Slytherin worthy I hate to admit." Filius let out a low growling noise before throwing out,

"But of course the Board couldn't be bothered to verify the ratification between each other before letting that...that..._creature_ near our students," Pomona dropped her quill as she began rubbing her temples and finished the half goblins thought.

"And since he had all the board signatures but not on the same parchment when ratified the school never registered him as a professor. Ergo the wards to protect against such misdeeds were never set off, as you said Severus, clever,disgusting, but clever." No one had anything to say to that and after all the exams were finalized they broke the meeting and went their own ways. Severus left the room without bothering with his customary billowing robes, really no point to it with his colleagues, heading towards the dungeons he paused hearing an unfamiliar tune on a familiar instrument.

Raising a curious brow he followed the sounds to the open doors leading to the courtyard and flashed a brief smile seeing who the perpetrator was; sitting on top of her amp Lillith was playing her mother's guitar for a small gathering of students. The Longbottom boy was leaning against a close by tree while the Perks girl leaned on him eyes closed, Hermione had her back to the amp mouthing silent Lyrics to the guitar while a collection of other students stood or sat around swaying to the music. Much to Severus' relief Lilly looked relaxed, after their heart to heart several days ago it seemed as if a bit of weight had been lifted from her shoulders and it was good to see her socializing again.

As the song came to an end Lilly looked up smiling wide as the sun reflected off her green lensed glasses, the gathered students gave her a round of applause as she stood and gave a faux bow before she began fiddling with the guitars strings.

"What was that song Lilly?" Glancing back up to address the speaker she threw the redhead in question a wry smirk,

"Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, saw them last summer in the states and bought their album, nearly wore it out before holiday ended," Susan laughed at that as Lilly raised her voice. "Taking requests, anyone have something they wanna hear?" Turning away from the gathered students Severus continued on his way down to the dungeons satisfied, Lilly was smiling again and enjoying life, all was well with the Potion Master's world.

* * *

Hermione wasn't really paying attention to the end of term feast, the Headmaster never had any pleasant words for Slytherin House even when they had won the house cup yet again; an undefeated Quiditch season and the 'Silver Quartet's' classroom proficiency all but assuring it. The brunette had to resist the urge to snort at the moniker the Weasley twins had bestowed upon her little group of friends; she was honestly not sure if it was in jest or not but considering the terrible duo had left them out of all their pranking she wasn't going to push the questions.

After the Headmaster wound down his speech (while never once mentioning the acromantula attack or Lockhart) the students finished their meals quickly in a rush to get to the train and head home for the summer. It was disturbing how many students stopped to gape at the Thestral drawn carriages, it would seem the attack that nearly claimed her best friends life had stolen the innocence of many of her classmates. Sighing sadly she allowed Draco to help her into the carriage followed by Lilly and the boys, they remained quiet as they trundled along the path to Hogsmeade all lost in thought.

As they stretched out and dragged their trunks aboard the train claiming a compartment for themselves Draco sat heavily next to Lilly who promptly fell over resting her head on the blondes shoulder, Blaise smirked but Hermione felt something she...wasn't sure of. Never having been jealous before she pushed the unknown emotion aside as she pulled a book out, leafing through it silently. As the train began moving there was a timid knock on the door, Draco sighed as he drawled,

"Come in," the door slid aside and a pair of small girls entered the cabin closing the door behind them, Ginny Weasley coughed gently to get Lilly's attention, the tired looking ravenette glanced up and smiled,

"GinGin, Moonbeam, how are you two doing?" Luna gave her a bright smile and Ginny blushed lightly,

"Hello Lillith Potter, I just wanted to thank you for protecting me this year and torturing the upperclass girls into submission, mummy and daddy were quite impressed you knew the serpents snare technique since it is a Zabini family magic." The cabins occupants blinked rapidly at Luna who just stared out the window with dreamy eyes,

"Err, you're welcome Luna dear, just don't spread that around too much, vigilante justice ends quickly when people figure out who you are," Ginny coughed to get Lilly's attention as she spoke up,

"I just wanted to say thank you for saving me last November, I know I've said it already but you really can't thank someone for saving your life enough right?" Throwing Ginny a warm smile in return Lilly nodded once,

"Not a problem GinGin, next time hopefully I can figure out the dashing heroics without getting myself sent to the hospital wing, the twins are threatening to put a plaque with my name on it over my hospital bed."

That got a snicker from most present but Hermione grimaced, just like Lilly to hide behind gallows humor, the two first years bade their farewell and left the cabin, eventually Lilly pulled out a large thick envelope and plopped herself on the cabin floor while dumping out its contents. Wizarding photos spilled across the floor and has a few stopped at Blaise's feet, he quirked a brow and picked them up,

"These are all of us and our friends," he stated with approval, Lilly flashed a grin at that while nodding quickly,

"Yuppers! Colin came through, cost me a bit more than I negotiated because I ordered a few sets of duplicates, lets sort through who gets what ok?" Her friends smiled and gathered on the floor sifting through the photos, after an hour everyone had what they wanted safely secured in their school trunks, eventually the tedium of the ride got them and they all fell asleep.

As the train pulled into the station and came to a stop Ron Weasley shifted from his contemplative posture, he was well aware he wasn't the smartest or nicest person in school, but the chiding he'd gotten from his entire family and many of his fellow students had put a bit of perspective on his prejudices. Namely, if Lillith Potter was in truth a slimy snake and pure evil, why the hell did she nearly get herself killed defending muggle-borns from other houses?

He was a prideful boy and it took much of second term for him to burn through it but he'd come to a decision, maybe he had been wrong and everyone else had been right. There would likely never be a friendship between him and Lillith, he'd burnt that bridge the day he'd met her, but perhaps they could be civil with each other. As he followed his brothers and sister off the train he looked about until he saw the distinctive hair of Lillith's best friend, making his way over to the group he spoke up,

"Lillith, a moment please?" The girl spun around her raven tresses spinning about her framing her porcelain face, her brilliant smile fell immediately when she saw who was addressing her, he winced as her friends all turned to see him and took up positions around her.

"Ronald, what can I do for you?" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair while trying to think of the best way to address the girl,

"Lillith, I'm a git," Lillith's head snapped back as if struck, if he could see her eyes through her blackout glasses he was sure she'd be blinking rapidly, the thought nearly made him laugh. "See, mum well, she lost her brothers to Death Eaters, and well...she always told me how evil all Slytherin's are since most of You-Know-Who's followers were from that house. The thing is...you saved my little sister, you nearly died doing it too.

"I...I'm terrible with words, I have a terrible temper and terrible manners, and I know I've done nothing to earn your trust, but you've done something to earn mine. So, I apologize for being a complete berk and I hope we can at least be civil with each other." Lillith stared at him for well over thirty seconds, he began shifting about nervously before she slowly reached up and removed her glasses, she winced at the bright light but met his eyes evenly.

"I...accept your apology Ron, I give one chance and one chance only, don't throw it away, the quaffle is in your hands as they say," with that she extended her hand and he smiled shaking it vigorously while releasing a tense breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"I've always been a better Keeper than a Chaser but I get what you mean," smiling as she slid her glasses back on she nodded to him and walked away with her friends to meet her family. Ron turned around and was shocked to see his siblings and mum watching him smiling, Fred turned to George while ribbing him gently,

"My my it looks like Ronnikins has finally wised up eh?" Nodding solemnly George remained neutral faced as he replied,

"Took you long enough to stop being a prat to the girl," Ron's ears burned red at the rebuke but Ginny saved him by hooking her arm through his dragging him towards the exit,

"Well I'm proud of you, maybe when we get home daddy can borrow Mister Diggory's pensieve and I can show you all her fighting spiders and saving me!" Ron paled at that,

"Spiders?" Ginny nodded happily,

"Yeah ones as big as daddys Ford Angelina!" Ron could be heard muttering pitifully to himself as his little sister dragged him away for quite some time

* * *

Remus walked into his wife's lab and paused seeing his incredibly hungover bestfriend passed out in a corner chair snoring, turning to his wife he saw that she was working on one of her werewolf cadavers. She was busily digging around it's chest cavity with a clear plastic faceshield on, blood occasionally squirted out as she sang to herself,

"The tongue is connected to the esophagus,

the esophagus is connected to the stomach,

the stomach is connected to the blue thing,

the blue thing is connected to the C4,

the C4 is connected to the pressure sensor-" coughing to get her attention, she glanced up happily.

"Ello love! Don't mind Siri he had one too many last night, getting his last night of irresponsibility in before our Little Viper comes home, so what are you up to today?" Remus smiled fondly at the witch as he chose a seat outside of the splash zone before replying,

"I just got the most interesting floo call from the Headmaster," she paused her good cheer dissolving almost immediately, a very well tuned sneer crawled up her face as she lifted her mask,

"What did the whiskered old goat lover want?" Remus sighed as he stroked his short beard,

"He needs a new defense professor this year and considering what happened with the last two directly trying to do harm to Lillith he thought perhaps an old family friend would be good to fill the position." Bellatrix squealed and ran over to Remus, she thankfully paused long enough to removed her blood splattered apron and gloves before pulling him into a hug,

"That's brilliant love you'll get to spend the entire school year with our niece!" He smiled in return but shook his head,

"That's the problem love I have responsibilities as the Potter steward, I can be at Hogwarts sometimes but on top of my furry little problem well...I had a solution. It will bypass that whole curse...thing on the position," at this he waved his a hand off to the side while rolling his eyes. "What if we each sign a contract to work half the school year and we just trade off classes, we live together after all so it shouldn't be too much of a chore right?" Bellatrix squealed yet again and hopped onto Remus's lap while kissing him passionately, breaking the kiss she giggled to herself in her wonderful manic way,

"Oh Lilly is going to be so excited! We get to spend the entire year with her, it will be just like old times just with less necromancy, the ministry frowns on that," Remus chuckled at that while returning the kiss.

"Indeed love, rather ironically Lilly will be learning about Dark Creature's this year so we can break out a few of the projects in the freezer, that ought to sate your lust for mad science."

"BRILLIANT!" The batty witch yelled as she hopped up, at this Sirius finally started awake looking around blearily,

"Whaz going on? What time is it?" The Lupin's rolled their eyes as they approached the old dog and helped him out of his chair, he grimaced holding his head while whining, "Why did I think that was a good idea?" As one his cousin and best friend quipped,

"Because you're an idiot," he glared at them with bloodshot eyes than paused for another moment before shrugging and nodding,

"Right, that, err," casting a tempus a brow rose as he turned to Bellatrix, "Bella did you remember to feed Lockhart this week?" She tapped her chin with her index finger while cocking her head to the side,

"It's young Nymphadora's turn to feed him I do believe," Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose wincing while Remus kept back his chuckles, Sirius dropped his hand and turned back to Bella,

"Cousin she isn't in the know about this yet," Bella waved her free hand flippantly over her shoulder as she began pulling her apron on,

"Well I put her on the schedule rotation it's not my fault she's shirking her responsibilities," Remus was now covering his mouth with his hand to hide his laughter while Sirius did his best to follow suit not wanting his headache to get worse, eventually Remus got himself under enough control to reply to his wife.

"Dear does he have _anything_ to eat down there?" She stopped as she was about to shove a gloved hand back into the werewolf cadavar that she affectionately referred to as a "Frag Mutt" before cocking her head once again.

"Do spiders count as food?" Sirius mirrored her cocked head as he stroked his goatee,

"I...hmm, I think it depends on what size and how many," Bella smiled at that and gave an affirming nod,

"Grotesquely large and quite a few, really we're spoiling him," the Marauders exchanged a look than shrugged as one, Remus waved his goodbye as he turned to leave,

"He'll be fine for now than, I'm going to go call the Old Meddler and tell him we're in, Sirius go take a shower you smell terrible," Sirius gave his friend's back an indignant look and a rude finger but after getting a wiff of himself he winced in understanding.

"Right, well I'm gonna go get cleaned up, tell me when Andi and Ted show up with the pup all right?" Bella absently waved a lung at him in acknowledgment, she grinned to herself lilac eyes sparking in excitement,

"I get to teach an entire generation of students, oh the fun we're going to have!"

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**Even if I can't figure out _exactly_ what I want to do with third year at least the Lupin's will be there =D**


	31. Being a Rat Doesn't Make Him a Fool

_**User **_**_Belial666 inspired me to completely revamp Pettigrew into a Hans Gruber level of villain, hope you all enjoy the interlude, Lillith sure as hell won't, as always read and review (obviously not a full chapter but I felt it was better as a stand alone)_**

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Peter Pettigrew was not a stupid man, his schoolmates, his friends, and even his own family had decided long ago that since he looked rather vapid he was indeed a dimwit and thus he played the part. He'd never _wanted_ James to die, much less Lily, oh the lovely redhead, a blossom of life in a sea of bland conformity that is what Lily Evans had been! But he'd been terrified, he'd been afraid of being on the losing side, he'd been afraid of dying, more the fool was he. Death was not the worst fate of man, no, Azkaban was where the true traitors went and he relived his greatest mistake on a minute to minute basis.

Peter knew he belonged in the ninth circle, sharing bread and salt with the likes of Cain, Mordred and Judas, he knew he deserved to freeze in burning hell, he would never deny that, not now, now that he'd come to terms with what he'd done. The fact that he'd consigned the vigorous Sirius Black to this Hell on Earth through his treacherous actions all but assured that; Sirius had always been brash and boastful, the fact the man survived this demonscape proved how strong he really was. No, Peter would not whine about his lot, he would not beg, his cowardice had been burnt out and tempered in the frozen furnace of the Demontors presence.

The gaunt man sat cross-legged as he meditated, the rat like features that had begin to form from his long sojourn in his animagus form had long melted away, the grey haired dark eyed man looked to be nothing more than an inferni, but he had not lost his mind. Oh no, mindlessness was for the baser wizards, those that didn't grasp what they'd done and didn't understand that they _deserved_ to be here, that this was their just rewards for a life ill spent. Peter smirked at that as he pulled his greasy hair behind his ears, a life ill spent, that was him in a nutshell was it not?

He'd sworn to protect little Lillith, he'd sworn to protect his brother James, he'd sworn to protect his sworn sister and the woman he loved Lily, but he'd betrayed them all the same, and for what? A pittance at his 'Lords' feet, Peter knew better now, he knew he'd failed everyone that mattered, and as the Dark Mark began to burn once again he knew what he had to do, it was time to stop hiding, it was time to admit what he was. He, Peter David Pettigrew was a Dark Wizard, and the world was about to remember what it meant to suffer under the heel of one who no longer cared.

Peter waited days, then weeks, unable to do anything, unable to change to his rat form thanks to the runes on the bars of his cell, but he waited, patiently, as he always did. He began doing sit-ups and push-ups as Lily use to do when she was bored, she'd constantly get on all their arses about being lazy and fat so it took no time at all to get back in the routine. Months later the current Minister for Magic made his rounds, Peter did his best not to sneer at the fat bastard although it took all his self control to do so, he remembered Fudge back in the Auror Corps, and the man was useless.

As the stout tub of corruption and cholesterol made his way towards Peter's cell he'd went still and sat cross-legged, just like Lily taught him, the sputtering font of idiocy stopped at his door and began a monologue. Good Goddess Peter hated monologues, both Dumbledore and Voldemort loved the bloody things and they drove him up the wall no matter what the conversation was about. James and Lily had actually made a candy they'd named 'Get to the Point' that they'd handed out to Order members after a few meetings that actually managed to do just that, he smiled at that then grimaced.

Jamie...Lils...his brother and sister, oh the mistakes he'd made, he knew what his betrayal was now, there was no making excuses, he was a coward and he'd betrayed the most honest, loving, and true people in this world to keep his stupid fat arse alive. Grimacing he glanced up to Fudge and interrupted the self important twat,

"Excuse me, if you're done with your paper could I perhaps have a look at it? The crosswords always were a bit of a challenge," Fudge of course sputtered, and preened, mocked Peter's lack of intelligence and with an almost negligent wave threw the newspaper through the bars. Peter blinked owlishly at the paper then glanced back to the Fudge's receding form as he walked away escorted by Dementors and what appeared to be a toad wrapped in pink wool.

"I can honestly say I never anticipated that to actually work, Hatcher would have a field day with these magical morons," Peter muttered this under his breath as he took the newspaper in hand. Azkaban was an admittedly impenetrable fortress due to its safeguards, the bars of the cell were engraved with runes that prevented him from transforming into his animagus form, the food, clothes, and bedding were all enchanted to prevent transfiguration and the like. Obviously on top of that were the Dementors, bloody freaks that they were, but the simple fact of the matter was foreign objects were not allowed in Azkaban for a damn good reason.

Sitting up Peter jammed the paper in between the bars of the door and wall, focusing on it he imagined a metal vice spinning in reverse slowly pushing outwards as he willed his magic from his core. It took well over two hours since he'd never been the best at wandless magic but in the end it didn't matter, eventually the paper warped and folded into a contraption that forced the door to press in and the lock to snap from the cemented bars. Snorting at the ease of his escape Peter pushed the door open and glanced about, freedom, what an odd thought, he knew the prisons layout due to being led to the showers and courtyard so it took him no time to find the Wardens office.

Peter was unsurprised to see the fat man asleep at his desk, why would he give a damn one way or another, no one escaped form Azkaban right? Snorting quietly Peter went beside the man and jabbed him in the throat thrice, gasping and coughing for breath that would not pass through his broken esophagus he watched the overweight man die with a bored gaze. Once the twitching stopped he searched the man for his keys and found what he was looking for, approaching the locked chest in the back of the room Peter slammed the key in place and twisted it causing the chest to crack open with a groan.

"Ello poppet," he whispered gently as he took the slim piece of wood off the top of the pile, finding his masters bone handled yew wand shortly after reclaiming his own he stole the wardens jacket and jammed both wands into the wide pockets. Picking the chest up he began wandering the halls opening all the cells of all the floors, the inmates gathered in the center courtyard unsure of what to do, Peter frankly didn't give a fuck what they did in so long as they caused enough chaos that no one would notice him for awhile.

"Brothers, sisters, the Wizengamot has declared you all convicts and criminals, it is now your time to reclaim what is yours! Take your wands and escape, remind Brittania what it happens when you put a magical behind bars!" Sneering he dumped the wands on the ground next to the dead tree at the courtyards center, the various criminals rushed to reclaim what what theirs while peter sighed staring up at the night sky.

He couldn't help but laugh as he stared up at Canis Major, "I'm coming Padfoot, can you protect her from me? Marauder against Marauder brother, lets play..." and with that he fired the mother of all blasting hexes at Azkaban's central ward stone destroying the anti apparation and port-key wards, apparating away he couldn't help but grin, it was time for the games to begin. Smirking as he walked towards Gringotts he adapted an exaggerated swagger he prowled forward, honestly he couldn't but help think what the world would make of his escape.

"All right you old goat fucker, your move..."


	32. Amelia Needs a Drink

**Third year is going to be dramatically shorter then the previous two ironically enough because of the presence of my favorite power couple; who in their right mind is going to try anything in the presence of a MadWitch who considers demon summoning a relaxing activity and a bloody Werewolf who enjoys composing haiku's as he chases down dark creatures? Anyway please enjoy and REVIEW! You lot do not understand how much your responses mean to me**

_**IMPORTANT! **__ Never done this before but I'm throwing an endorsement out to the ether for you lot to give a shout out to a story written by one of my reviewers by the name of **Philosophize**. '**Yule Ball Panic**' and its sequel '**The Power of Love**' are both incredibly well written pieces focused around a fem!Harry dealing with the fact that she is indeed in love with her favorite know it all bushy haired friend and all the social issues it entails. Read it, he's done an amazing job with all his characters and it feels like a real life situation; plus, badass helpful Neville is always great and Philosophize pulls all the characters off with style. Anyhow, talk to you all later, tata!_

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Azkaban Island had always been a point of contention for the head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones was in the firm belief that shoving everyone from the lowest sneak thief to the most depraved of You-Know-Who's followers in the same facility made little sense. Of course she had issues with Azkaban's guards as well, she'd fought against the bloody Dementors during that last war and the fact they trusted the fickle and vile creatures with such an important task was foolhardy at best.

That being said, they worked essentially for free, which made them the perfect guards in the _esteemed_ Minister for Magics opinion, a decision that not unlike many other instances had blown up in her departments face leaving her to take the blame yet again. Was it any wonder she was going prematurely grey?

"So..." she began slowly as she observed the central courtyard and the fire blackened remains of the ancient fortress's ward stone, "Let me get this straight, a prisoner escaped shortly after Minister Fudge performed his yearly inspection, and aside from his escort controlled by the Undersecretary all the Dementors were herded into their holding area for the duration, correct?" Her second in command nodded, his leonine visage betraying no emotions outside of the tightening of his eyes,

"That would be correct Madam Bones," rubbing her temples slowly and wishing not for the first time today that she hadn't taken up the family business of law enforcement she continued,

"So, with no guards on patrol this prisoner, who happens to be Peter bloody Pettigrew murdered the Warden, released all the prisoners, blew the ward stone up and we only found out about it three _days_ after it happened?" Wincing Rufus just nodded again, technically speaking it was his duty to keep up with the updates from the Wizarding Prison but Amelia would admit that in his defense the reports had been identical going on two hundred years now so she was inclined to give him a bit of slack.

"Succinctly put Madam," shaking her head Amelia kicked a broken chunk of the wardstone watching it rattle down the uneven cobblestones of the courtyard, shoulders slumping she unclipped her monocle to rub her eyes. Turning back to her deputy head she than asked,

"Do you have any good news for me Rufus, anything?" He nodded quickly eager to deviate the conversation away from his failings,

"Well over half the prisoners have been captured and are now in Ministry holding cells until the ward stone can be replaced, they're mostly lower level bottom feeders but some of the more high profile lot went back to their roots and were quickly subdued. For the most part though the ones still free are-"

"The Merlin be damned Death Eaters," Amelia snapped out in disgust, Scrimgour let out a weary sigh of confirmation that shifted into a groan as he glanced over his bosses shoulder; eyes narrowing she took a deep breath knowing perfectly well there was only one person to elicit such a response from the stoic man.

"Hem-Hem," Amelia resisted the impulse to shudder, counting down from ten she turned around and her gaze dropped to the pink cardigan clad woman who currently had a simpering sickly sweet smile glued on her face. Her thick worm like lips drew the eye much to said optical interfaces consternation, the squat woman shifted a sheaf of parchments about as she lightly twirled a quill in her thick stubby fingers. Grimacing Amelia gave the Undersecretary a bland smile and an even blander greeting,

"Undersecretary Umbridge, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Umbridge's smile widened in such a way that it would make passing flys weary of the toad like woman, 'hem-hem'ing' again she began speaking in that sugary high pitched school girl tone that drove everyone mental.

"Madam Bones, I dare say you've caused quite a scandal, a mass breakout of Azkaban is not something to be taken lightly," Oh hell the fuck no, Amelia Bones was many things but being a patsy was one thing she'd never accept. Returning the sickly sweet smile Amelia yelled and much to her amusement Umbridge hopped in the air a bit.

"AUROR SHACKLEBOLT!" Not thirty seconds later the towering form of Kingsley Shacklebolt appeared beside his boss, his calm demeanor and neutral face belaying the annoyance the man was feeling below the surface. Eyeing Umbridge in the same manner he would a Death Eater his deep soothing voice boomed out,

"You called for me Madam Bones?" Nodding slowly she casually flipped her hand towards the woman before her,

"Please explain to the Undersecretary how the prison break occurred? Just as you did for Deputy Scrimgour if you'd please," coughing lightly he turned to the glowering woman in question and did his best to sound respectful.

"According to interviews with various captured escapees the one to break them all out was the Death Eater Peter Pettigrew, none are aware if he was inspired to do so out of convenience or a desire to aid in You-Know-Who's ideology, he-" Umbridge squeled out an enraged cry earning her a glance from the surrounding aurors.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is dead! He is not a threat any longer!" Kingsley raised one dark eyebrow and in a very uncharacteristic manner drawled out his response,

"Riiiight, anyway after figuring this out we took a look at his cell and we cataloged and recorded the device he used to pry the doors apart, apparently he used wandless magic to transfigure it out of a newspaper. It was crude, but effective," Umbridge's simpering reply made Amelia grit her teeth and dearly wish she was back in her office with her reports and bourbon,

"Well I find that very hard to believe, everything in Azkaban is enchanted to resist transfiguration and regardless how could Pettigrew perform wandless magic, almost no one can do that without years of practice." Kingsley was saved a response when Rufus threw out,

"Yes, it's almost like he was locked in a 7x7 cell for the past five years and had nothing but time on his hands, and as for the newspaper, Shack?" Kingsley nodded and lifted a plastic evidence bag holding a copy of the Daily Prophet, in the subscription panel it clearly stated

Cornelius Fudge

Ministry of Magic, London England

Umbridge blanched and tried to grab the paper from the auror who simply lifted it out of her reach while giving her a cool look,

"Madam Umbridge," Amelia began, no longer holding back an amused smirk, "I do believe your boss is guilty of aiding and abetting the entirety of Azkaban, so unless you want this investigation to get...interesting, I highly suggest you forget any attempts at snowing this case and tossing blame about.

"You may think you're a clever bureaucrat but don't think for a second that impresses me, now I'm going to pretend you never showed up here and I'm even going to do you the courtesy of not informing the Minister of what you attempted. Now if you don't mind I have an investigation to run," Umbridge had turned a rather impressive shade of puce before she growled of all things and turned to leave.

As the woman neared the exit into the prison proper Amelia shouted out one last taunt,"Oh, Dolores," the Undersecretary turned to fix hate filled eyes on the DMLE head as she flashed a winning smile. "Do remember that if somehow the general public catches wind of any accusations of incompetence for my department, well..." Kingsley lifted the evidence bag and shook it for the toad like woman to see, "...It won't end well for the Minister, good day."

After a few minutes of silence Rufus let out a dry humorless chuckle as he shook his head in disgust,

"Well, that was amusing, but don't you think you were laying it on a bit thick Ami?" She shrugged lightly at that waving Kingsley on to return to his previous duties,

"Yes, and I'm sure I'll be paying for it sometime in the near future but you know that horrible woman as well as I do, she'll do anything to protect Fudge's position of authority to keep her own interests alive. Sure, what we just did amounted to blackmail but with evidence collected and documented at the scene it can hardly be refuted, no we'll just have to keep an eye on her for the time being."

"And Fudge? He _is_ the reason this all was possible if what we've put together is true," Amelia sighed while throwing her hands out and letting them drop,

"What _can_ we do about him? Honestly I'd just be happy if he sat back and let us handle this on our own, now if...Merlin, Mordred, and Morgana, what the bloody hell?!" Amelia and her gathered aurors looked up in shock as clouds of Dementors took to the skies, she had to steady her breath as the air chilled and her senses dulled. She wavered a bit but thankfully Rufus caught her arm, looking about frantically she was about to bark out orders when an owl landed before her.

Staring at the brown barn owl a moment Amelia took the parchment from its claws and broke the ministry seal, she began cursing as she crumpled the letter and threw it in the air, Rufus caught it and his face turned stony as he read the crumpled message.

"Surely they can't be serious?! The search for the inmates is being turned over to the Dementors!?" Amelia felt sick to her stomach as she watched the cloud of demons heading towards the mainland, the choppy seas below them flash freezing in their terrible presence,

"Cornelius, you damned fool..." Kingsley and Tonks walked up beside their bosses, both looking slightly pale in the fleeting Dementor presence,

"Well...that escalated quickly," Tonks quipped, her forced levity sounding flat even to herself, Amelia nodded slowly and began walking briskly towards the apparation point to try and talk some sense into Cornelius when she paused and glanced back at the destroyed ward stone. Rolling her eyes she vanished with a pop already aware she wasn't going to be getting any rest anytime soon.

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Peter Pettigrew was in a fairly good mood, he'd been free nearly a week and while many of his fellow escapees had gotten themselves recaptured the Ministry had kept surprisingly quiet about the entire ordeal, more than likely they were hoping to get all the lightweights under lock and key before scaring the hell out of the Wizarding world. He smirked at that with a bit of malicious glee, really the more things change the more they stay the same, stopping to stare at his reflection in a shop window he gave the handsome middle aged reflection a cheeky grin, the goblins did good work that was for certain.

It had taken nearly a third of the gold he'd inherited from his mother but the goblins had largely reversed most of what Azkaban had done to him while at the same time repairing his receding hairline and changing his eyes to a rather vibrant blue rather then their former flat watery look. His teeth had taken some work too but a pair of pliers, a few potions, and a bottle of aspirin later he looked a new man, no one, _no one_ would recognize him as Peter Pettigrew now.

Whistling to himself he apparated to Little Whinging and stopped to get his bearings, last time he'd been here had been with James and Sirius as emotional support for Lily's attempt at reconciling with her estranged sister, that had ended with the horse like woman trying to stab the redhead with a kitchen knife, muggles, really. Grimacing as he looked about the cookie cutter neighborhood he couldn't help but snort in contempt, how anyone, much less his Lillith could live in this sort of conformity was beyond him, spotting the needed street sign he began walking at a casual pace towards his destination.

Approaching 4 Privet Drive Peter rapped his knuckles against the door and waited patiently for an answer, he had time no need to be rude after all, after a few moments a tired looking elderly woman opened the door. Giving Peter a once over she seemed to approve of his charcoal gray suit with its red and gold striped tie,

"Can I help you sir?" Throwing her the grin James had coached him on for endless hours he gave her a bow earning himself a slight blush,

"Dear lady I was wondering if there was a Lillith Potter in residence?" The old muggle looked confused as she shook her head,

"No no I've lived here five years and I don't recall ever knowing a Lillith, beautiful name though," frowning slightly Peter scratched the side of his nose as he did some quick math, head shooting up he asked,

"Who lived here before that?" The woman sighed sadly at this shaking her head with a forlorn look,

"The house that use to sit here burned down six years ago, the couple that lived there died, heard their little boy survived though, the real estate agent neglected to mention that tidbit before I bought the home built on their ashes, go figure right?" Peter gave her his condolences for shady business practices and excused himself, the Dursley's were dead then, hmm...well Lily did say this would be the last place she'd ever want her daughter to go, he'd just assumed since from what he'd gathered through gossip and hearsay Dumbledore had left Lillith with her muggle relatives and...ah...

"Clever Sirius old boy, clever, kill the girls guardians and don't tell anyone you took her, yes yes such a Marauder, it all lines up true true, the dates don't lie, such a clever mutt hehe..." Now...where the hell would he have stashed the girl? Sirius was never one for that whole 'Responsibility' thing so more than likely she'd be staying with others, frowning he mulled that over for a bit than shrugged coming to a simple conclusion; Peter Pettigrew's information was out of date. Sighing in exasperation he apparated to the Daily Prophets offices and resigned himself to a few days of reading back issues of the shoddy paper, but it would have to be done since it would be absolutely foolish to just go gallivanting along the countryside looking for her, really, who would do that?

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**This was short, I admit it, but the entirety of the summer between second and third year will be in the next chapter and third year itself will only be half as long as second year. Why? Simple really, the drama of Harry not knowing who Sirius really is and the emotional fallout is simply nonexistent, third year for Lillith is going to be hanging out with her sexually confused friends as she is trained to murder people by her favorite aunt. Really, are any of you shocked? Also next chapter I'm setting up a vote on who our Lady of Slytherin ends up with, yes, I'm bribing you to stay tuned, so sue me, stay tuned because I will be taking your opinions into consideration as things move on. Toodles, and as always, REVIEW. **


	33. Going Off The Rails On A Crazy Train

**I decided to condense all the small chapters involved with the Howarts Express Crash (4 in total I think) into one large entry just to better streamline things, I fully intend to be doing some reformating and cleaning up of this story and it's authors notes soon. Now as stated before this change special thanks to Rorschach's Blot for letting my borrow the Longbottom family war cry from his fic 'Dead Sirius', don't look too deeply into it, it was just a joke. As always please read and review and sorry if the change is confusing to you lot. **

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As she passed through the portal wall leading from Kings Cross Station to Platform 9 3/4's Hermione could immediately feel the shift in atmosphere, while the muggle side had been simple business as usual the crowds around the Hogwarts Express practically dripped tension and fear. It only took a moment's contemplation to come to the conclusion that this was to be expected, nearly sixty convicted escapee Death Eaters were still on the run and the DMLE's efforts to bring them in were stymied by Fudge's release of the Dementors.

Closing her eyes while taking in deep controlled breaths Hermione did her best to stay calm; she had of course studied Dementors and the methods which were used to bring the creatures into this world through her Black training and to put it simply their very existence was blasphemy. Even Bellatrix who had at _best_ a loose and almost casual relationship with human decency was disgusted with what was required to summon the mid level demons into the realm of the living, the fact that _hundreds_ of the abominations worked for the ministry...well...

"Hermione!" Coming to a stop she and her parents were turning towards the excited cries source when she was pulled into a tight hug, smiling and blushing slightly she inhaled the familiar scent of the midnight black hair cascading over her face. Returning the hug she swayed back and forth gently before giving a slightly more subdued greeting,

"Lilly, so good to see you, how are you doing?" Holding on for a few more moments Lilly released her and began straightening out her attire, Hermione apprised the outfit and couldn't help but think it fit her friend perfectly. She was wearing a black sweater vest over a white blouse and a knee length black skirt, accentuating the outfit was a pair of elbow length black and green striped fingerless gloves that ended in fishnets that led up into her shirt. A similarly striped tie and pair of artfully torn stockings finished the outfit along with heavy black combat boots, Hermione chuckled a bit as she quipped,

"Taking personal image suggestions from your Aunt Bella I see?" Not noticing the playful tone from her friend Lilly nodded in appreciation,

"Dora too, I like it, goddess is it good to see you 'Mione my family went into overprotective mode and kept me locked up in the manors all summer when those bloody Death Eaters escaped, it's been vexing, oh so vexing." Hermione couldn't help but find Lilly's pouting visage to be well...adorably endearing, putting that thought aside she wished her parents farewell then gestured towards the waiting train.

"Yes well, you can tell me all about it on the train, where's your trunk and familiars?" Snorting lightly her best friend shook her head sending her raven tresses flying,

"I've been here an hour Dora insisted we show up early to check the train out for stowaways and she's even going to play act a student and ride in our cabin with us, Uncle Moony and Auntie Bella are also going to be on patrol for most of the ride as added security. Ends up Madam Bones wanted to post aurors as well but Umbridge put a stop to that, luckily big sis had the day off but I'm fairly certain that was intentional, Bonesy has a soft spot for her it seems."

Hermione nodded at that as she followed her friend up the ramp dragging her luggage cart behind her, following Lilly's confident stride they entered an open cabin as the ravenette cheerfully greeted its occupants. "'Ello boys, I found our wayward bookworm," Draco sat on the left side of the compartment stroking Hedwig's head as she sat propped on his knee; curled on the seat by the window was Nelle and Hermione was a bit shocked to see the obsidian scaled serpent had grown to a meter in length over the summer.

Blaise was sprawled out on the right side of the cabin stretched across the entire bench, he sat up groggily and waved to the girls with a tired grin, "Hello Hermione, how was your summer?" He sat up to help her with her trunk when he paused and stared into the cat carrier atop the luggage, raising a single brow his gold gaze met Hermione's in question, she grinned and popped the carrier open pulling out her familiar.

"This is Crookshanks, isn't he darling?" Her friends eyed the large animal cradled in her arms with varying looks of incredulity before Lilly cautiously stated,

"That is either a very large cat or a quite small lion, I'm not entirely sure which is the preference honestly." scowling at her friend a moment Draco then threw his opinion out,

"Hermione did you get that thing on discount? I ask since it obviously has a rather intimate relationship with running head first into walls," scowl deepening she glared at the smirking Slytherin and sat primly next to Blaise as she scratched Crookshanks behind the ears.

"Don't listen to these plebeians Crooks, you're the picture of feline masculinity," the bandy legged squash faced cat blinked slowly a moment before curling into her lap and promptly went to sleep. Lilly snorted then winced as a flash of lightening in the distance lit the cabin, grumbling she accepted her tinted blackout glasses from Draco who gave her an understanding smile,

"Almost went the entire day without needing them Lils, not bad right?" Sighing she scooped the large snake out of her seat and sat next to the blonde, Nelle curled around her mistress and once comfortable went back to sleep. The now warmer and thus contented reptile let out a snort of smoke that curled from its nostrils as Lilly began stroking her scaly hide,

"Yeah...I guess you're right Little Dragon, although that was mostly thanks to the overcast skies, I'm really getting sick of these things truth be told," before anything else could be said the door slid open and a perky girl in Hufflepuff colors waved to the group as she quickly shut the door behind her and cast a few security spells. After a moment the girl shifted into the ever vivacious Nymphadora Tonks who gave the gathering a wink as she leaned against the door frame,

"Wotcher you lot, not getting into any trouble are we?" Snorting Blaise cocked his head towards Lilly as he drawled out,

"While getting into trouble seems to be a trend for our lovely Lady I don't believe even she's gotten into any mischief before reaching the castle as of yet," Lilly sniffed at that as she looked out the window watching the platform slowly disappear in the distance.

"Not like I go out and look for trouble Blaise it just seems to find me on a regular basis," snorting Tonks rolled her eyes as she shifted back into her child form and hopped onto one of the free seats,

"Right I'll remember that next time you and Aunt Bellatrix decide to enslave some Eldritch abomination because you were bored, anyway I'm going to catch a few winks, if anything out of the ordinary happens lemme know." Shrugging the young teens began relaying their summer goings on over the napping Aurors snores, eventually the gentle swaying of the train along with the steady beat of the rain on the roof and windows drew the entire cabin into the realm of Morpheus.

Bellatrix Lupin was humming to herself in amusement as she patrolled the corridors of the Hogwarts Express with her hubby, the pair of DADA professors keeping an eye out for potential threats to the children's safety as well as acclimating themselves to being surrounded by so many kids. Lilly and her friends were one thing but Bella could honestly say that she wasn't quite sure she was prepared to deal with an entire castle of the miniature humans on a daily basis, her head cocked to the side with that thought and a grin unconsciously spread across her face eliciting a sigh from her husband.

"I know that look Bella, what have you cooked up now?" Still smiling brightly at the now weary werewolf she leaned over and pecked his cheek before spinning on one toe and grabbing onto his arm with a giggle,

"Do you think any parents would notice if their spawn came back...umm...enhanced?" Grimacing Remus counted down from ten before replying,

"Love what did we promise Professor McGonagall when we accepted the contract?" Bella pouted a bit as she huffed out her reply,

"'Under no circumstances am I to engage in or encourage experimentation on the student body and or faculty of Hogwarts,' I swear Minnie is getting so strict in her old age, _Oh!_ Do you think the centaurs fall under that umbrella?" Remus's brow furrowed a moment before shaking his head,

"No I don't think any are employed at the castle so they wouldn't fall under the contract," cackling Bellatrix clapped her hands together in excitement as she glanced out the window,

"Oh goody! Now I'm-" lilac eyes widening in surprise she grabbed her husband and threw him to the ground while casting a shield over their prone forms and not a moment too soon. Everything happened so fast that their minds had to play catch up, an explosion, broken glass, howling wind, the screech of tormented metal, then weightlessness. As the pair went tumbling down the now erratically spinning corridor the last thing either saw was the fast approaching wall, then there was nothing but darkness.

Lilly woke with a jolt and looked around the dark cabin with bleary eyes, groaning she removed her glasses and rubbed her forearm across her face before sliding the green lenses back into place. Yawning she groggily got to her feet and quietly exited the cabin. Heading towards the loo she was still too out of it to notice the stares she was getting from the students she passed, silently wishing she had some of Aunt Andi's coffee she was brought to a stop by a surprised,

"Bloody hell Potter is that a snake hanging on you?!" Turning to the voice that had just addressed her she quietly replied with,

"Language Ronald," the redhead in question stared at her a moment before a half smirk slid up his face as he pulled a hand through his tousled hair,

"You know I do believe I've heard you curse much more often than me," now becoming conscious of her surroundings Lilly realized she'd left her cabin with Nelle still slumbering around her shoulders and that she'd somehow managed to start a conversation with Ronald Weasley. Mentally shrugging she gave him a lukewarm smile in return,

"True but I'm constantly trying to test Hermione's tolerances, it's gotten to the point where she is nearly desensitized to it," he snorted while eyeing the still slumbering snake wrapped around her neck,

"Sounds like something you'd do, now umm...not making any demands but the snake?" Deciding that since he was being polite she'd return the favor Lilly began stroking Nelle's head as she replied,

"My Aunt and Uncle gave her to me as an egg for my twelfth birthday, I incubated her through most of second year and she's an emberscale which means she's distantly related to dragons, she really hates spiders and rats so she tries to catch them on fire which is an issue. Dragon fire is err...really resistant to water charms you see, Aunt Andi and Cissy weren't too pleased about what happened to their furniture. Aunt Cissy more so...apparently that rug had been Persian and there isn't really a Persia anymore to replace it soooo…." unbeknownst to herself the ravenette had become more animated in her descriptions and managed to remind Ron of his brother Charlie which eased his initial distaste for the creature, plus her rambling was kind of cute.

"What's her name?" He asked as he cautiously raised his hand to stroke the snake's side, he was shocked at how warm it felt, not slimy or cold at all, like hot pebbles in the summer sun, the snake lifted its head and eyed him a moment letting out a snort of smoke before going back to sleep. Lilly giggled at that and the musical sound had Ron smiling in return,

"Her names Nelle, and….Ron what's that?" Pointing out the window both teens watched in confusion then horror as a large glowing orange sphere sped past their car and slammed into the train engine, there was a horrendous clap of sound and pressure, then nothing.

Ron awoke soaking wet, freezing cold, and with one helluva massive headache that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, groaning he brought his hand to his forehead and gasped in pain as he felt the large gash across it. Tearing a strip from his now badly damaged robes he gently wrapped it around the wound, setting the makeshift bandage he began muttering to himself,

"Finally prove to mum and dad that I deserve new things and what happens? Train wreck destroys it all, brilliant, absolutely brilliant," now assessing his situation he realized that he was surrounded by smoldering wreckage and that he'd come to in the mud. Shakily getting to his feet his eyes widened to the size of saucers as he took in the sheer scope of the derailed wreck, fire and shadows dancing in the downpour and dying light of the summer evening. Immediately worrying about his siblings he recalled that his dad had gone into one of his muggle rants about all the safety measures built into the Express in case of an accident but it wasn't like the train had hit a bloody cow after all, Lilly had pointed out the attack and...

Shit… Stumbling towards the closest car he fumbled around for his wand and eventually drew it with numb hands, the only thing that made sense was Death Eaters, the ministry still hadn't done much about them other then releasing Dementors and he was from a Blood-Traitor family...lovely. As he began sifting through the wreckage he was startled with a cry of,

"Crucio!" Screaming in agony he didn't even know he could feel Ron fell to his knees, as the spell was lifted he sobbed as he rolled onto his back to see two scarecrow thin figures draped in ragged rotting robes approach from the split open car. One of them began cackling a bit as he kept his wand aimed on him,

"Redhair, freckles, gotta be a Weasley, you one'a 'uther's brood ya little shit? Heheh, I thinks I'ma gonna take my time wit' this welp," Ron resisted the impulse to whimper as the man licked his cracked lips a mad gleam in his jaundiced eyes. That was when a terrifying hiss filled the area, the man reeled back looking around in surprised shock, "Ma-Master?!" A moment later a blur of black shot across the ground and latched itself to the mans leg, he screamed in terror as he tried to kick off the large snake that had bitten him.

As his partner turned to cast a curse on Nelle Ron blinked rapidly as a black bird fell from the sky and in midair it shifted into the silhouette of a girl who landed on the man's shoulders dropping him to the ground. With practiced ease she spun around and landed feet first on his back and with one smooth motion pulled out a dagger and stabbed him in the base of his skull. She tried to pry the knife out but it was stuck fast, the man who had cursed Ron managed to toss Nelle to the side and turned his wand on the figure he could only assume was Lillith,

"Little bitch, Cruc-" Ron really didn't know what possessed him to cast the spell that came to mind especially in the rain but he had to do something, Lilly didn't even _like_ him and she'd come to his rescue so he had to return the favor.

"Incendio!" He bellowed from the bottom of his lungs, the cone of fire enveloped the man's soddened robes and caught his greasy hair afire, a moment later what Ron could only describe as blackest fires of hell belched from the ground joining his attack. The man's screams faded as he fell to the ground a smoking smoldering corpse, blinking against the spots floating across his eyes he felt a pair of slim warm arms wrap around him and pull him to his feet, the girls tinkling laughter bringing his mind to focus.

"First impulse was to burn him eh? Heh...well done, and thanks for lighting him up Nelle's night vision is amazing but not so much in the rain, come on we need to get moving," as Lillith Potter guided Ron Weasley through the wreckage of the Hogwarts Express he came to the startling conclusion that he had somehow earned her respect. For some reason, this thought scared the hell out of him.

Words could not describe how absolutely livid Neville Longbottom was at the moment, one second he was enjoying a spot of tea with Sally and Ginny, the next, he awoke in the rain, soaking wet, both girls whimpering in the corner holding their tattered robes to their bodies while a group of wizards stood over them leering. Neville was not a stupid boy, and he hadn't been the coward that had came to Hogwarts at the beginning of first year for some time, it only took a few seconds for him to realize who these people were and what they intended to do to the preteen girls.

The funny thing was these idiots didn't know what they were getting into, Sally-Anne had been chosen by Bellatrix Lupin to be her apprentice and Ginny was...Ginny, all they needed was time to draw their wands but for the life of him Neville couldn't think of a spell that could give him that distraction. Silently cursing both Quirrell and Lockhart Neville was about to panic when he felt a strange weight land in his hand, lifting the object to eye level he quirked an incredulous brow at the ruby encrusted silver broadsword that had come into his possession.

Thankfully for Neville his god sister was one Lilly Potter so he'd long ago learned to accept the weirdness of life and to just roll with it as she liked to put it, silently raising to his feet he stumbled forward and with a furious thrust he skewered one of the men through the back. The scream of gut wrenching agony that immediately followed the attack reminded the Longbottom scion of a slaughterhouse he'd had the misfortune of walking past when he was younger; as the dying man's friends spun to face him both girls hopped to their feet and cast curses at their backs.

Ginny's was harmless but effective, the man was attacked by bat shaped bogeys and he stumbled around cursing until he full and struck his head against a jagged piece of metal, he went still after that and Neville had no illusions that the man was ever getting up. Sally's target was...not so lucky, she'd hit him with a stunner but that's not where it ended, as he fell to the ground she pulled out a knife and cut his shirt open and began carving into his chest.

"Sa-Sally what are you doing?" Ginny gasped out in open shock at the brutal display, the blonde looked up through rain soaked bangs and fogged glasses as she calmly replied,

"We need protection, these idiots are Death Eaters, take a look at their arms, we got lucky when Nev came to and I don't know about you but I have no intention of losing my maidenhead to an escaped convict, by the way, thanks Neville, you look dashing with a sword." He blushed deeply at that and just nodded in return, Sally quickly finished the intricate bleeding rune and placed her hand over it while speaking a few words in a tongue that made Neville's _sanity_ hurt.

Both Ginny and Neville would readily admit that they had nightmares for years after what happened next, the man's body began to contort and twitch, he let out soul piercing scream of agony as his back arched and they could see blood spraying from his mouth as tendons and bones snapped and popped. The….thing the man had become was now nearly two meters tall, its fingers were far too long and had far too many joints and were now tipped with three inch long claws, it's knees bent the wrong way and its elongated jaws were filled with razor sharp teeth.

As the sickly pale _thing_ began to prowl forward at the blondes command Ginny meekly asked, "Wha-what is it?" Sally's smile lacked anything resembling warmth as she flatly stated,

"You'll sleep better if you never find out," Neville couldn't help but agree with the girls statement.

* * *

Draco awoke with a start but paused the motion immediately when a wave of nausea hit him like a bludger bat the face, eyes fluttering open he took in his surroundings and slowly processed the scene before him. Blaise had Hermione's head in his lap as he gently stroked her bleeding forehead his eyes swimming with concern; that ugly arse cat of hers was prowling back and forth in front of its mistress and Draco could feel the malice and worry rolling off the magical creature as it spited the world around it.

Lifting his head gently he realized he was on his back with a blanket stretched across him and Hedwig was perched on his chest slowly turning her head to follow Crookshanks agitated stride. Mumbled cursing drew his attention to his cousin Nymp...Tonks who was doing her best to try and tear the cabins door free...the odd thing was the door was on the ceiling and well...he hurt way too much to try and process that.

"What...happened?" The two other conscious occupants of the cabin snapped their heads to meet his weary gaze and they both seemed to relax a bit seeing him awake,

"Had us worried there Draco, took quite a knock to your head when the trunks went flying, gotta love wizard safety features, lace the entire train with cushioning and low level healing runes and do nothing to prevent shite flying about. Typical," Tonks said this as she shrugged and turned back to trying to force the door open, "The train was derailed and our cabin sealed itself off, the charms are pretty damn strong and since I have _no_ idea what I'm looking for I can't do anything as simple as just turning them off. Top it off I can't apparate so someone's got wards set up sooooo yeah...that's a thing." Draco sighed at this as he dropped his head no longer having the strength to keep it up,

"So what you're saying is we're stuck and there isn't anything we can do about it, right?" Blaise nodded once throwing the other boy a wan smile,

"That about sums it up yes," Draco's groaned out "Bugger" earned him a snort from Tonks and a "Quite" from Blaise, and without meaning to the blonde quickly slipped back into realm of Morpheus.

Ron trailed behind Lilly trying to catch any signs of movement in the smoke and mist, the pair had accumulated a rather sizable group of students who seemed perfectly willing to follow the scary third year Slytherin through the winding wreckage. Truthfully Ron didn't blame them at all, Lillith just had this calm '_Take Charge_' attitude about her as she prowled forward, the snake hanging around her shoulders hissing whenever it caught the scent of another survivor didn't hurt either.

"So I was thinking," said scary third year Slytherin began, "what was the point in this attack? I mean yeah, Death Eaters, spooky, blah blah blah I get it. Thing is they attacked a train with several children from families that supported the Dark Lord aboard, there's no Dark Mark in the sky, and outside of ruining a rather frivolous mode of transportation I can't figure out _why_ they would risk this sort of thing. The net loss to gain ratio just doesn't add up," there was silence from the group of survivors for a time when Su Li spoke up,

"Well...there's you of course," she said with a thoughtful tone before quickly adding, "Not that I'm blaming you for this or anything!" She began waving her hands in front of her to indicate she meant no offense but Lilly just shrugged not taking it as a personal attack,

"I thought about that but it doesn't make sense either way, if they meant to kidnap me how would they know I wouldn't die in the crash? If they meant to just kill me why risk all the other kids and earning their Lords ire by culling the pool of future recruits? It's like using a sledgehammer to open an unlocked door; sure it'll get the job done but in the end there's no more door, you know?" Silence was the only reply she earned with that bit of insight, in all reality it probably didn't matter _what_ the overarching goal of the attack was so long as they all got out of it alive.

As the older students tried to keep the utterly terrified first years calm Lilly tuned out the occasional whimper and sob to focus on the terrain in front of her, stretching her senses out the young teen couldn't help but grimace at what she felt. Motioning to Ron (when had he stopped being Ronald? Something to think about later) for silence he quickly shushed the roughly two dozen trailing them and once done shuffled to her side,

"What is it Lilly?" Still grimacing she wiped the soot stained moisture from her face as she jerked her head to the overturned passenger car before them,

"There's five Death Eaters and three students on the other side of this car, I...the Death Eaters are right on top of them...literally..." Ron looked at her in confusion when the truth of the situation dawned on him. She'd give the ginger credit where it was due the look of loathing that slid across his features was rather fearsome,

"We have to do something, we can't just leave them to it," Lilly snorted as she took a hair tie off her wrist and grabbed the sopping black mass surrounding her head deftly pulling it into a messy bun. Sighing in honest frustration she pulled her knife and deftly twirled it in her left hand while tightening her grip on her Fae wand,

"I would love one, just one year at Hogwarts to not have me directly involved in a sexual assault be it wandering in on it having to clean house or being the target myself, I swear if this becomes an ongoing trend..." Ron stared at her a moment before smirking,

"Would you rather just let them get away with it?" Lilly glared at him for a few moments then broke it with a grin,

"I love you Weasleys, so goddamn nonchalant in the face of violence...heh... seriously, ok when I jump into the clearing just start casting whatever comes to mind, fires good but if you have anything meaner let it fly I certainly won't be holding back." Ron's grin softened slightly as his fingers tightened around his willow wand nodding slowly,

"On you Lilly," smirking she nodded once before jumping into the open,

"Hey kids wanna see a dead body?!" The Death Eaters turned to her as she pointed her wand at a man missing his pants, he was standing over an unconscious girl and began fumbling for his wand when she coldly stated, "Avada Kedavara." The green light hit the man and he immediately went limp collapsing on his side, the other four were in mid motion when Ron bellowed out,

"BOMBARDA!" Limbs went flying as the two who were standing watching their fellows blew apart in a spray of blood and bone, still smirking Lilly rushed towards the last two Death Eaters who dismounted the girls they'd been raping and began casting curses her direction with rage laced cries. The surrounding survivors watched with bated breath as Lilly deftly spun around the green lights flying past her as she landed before the first attacker; her knife flicked out as if having a mind of it's own as it was buried in the mans eye socket and she lost no momentum as she flew past his falling corpse. Smirk stretching into a grin she tackled the lone survivor and had her wand at his throat a moment later, meeting his tearful terrified gaze she just stared at him a moment before slowly drawling out,

"Sectumsepra," as his severed head went rolling Lilly stood while cracking her neck then grinned towards the wide eyed gathering,

"Well come on now, do you lot really want to get hypothermia? It's cold and we still have to sit through the sorting and I don't know about the rest of you but I'm rather tired of the distractions," it said something that the large gathering offered no arguments as they covered the unconscious girls and cast hovering charms on them. As the procession began moving again Tom snorted slightly and Lilly had the distinct impression that he was shaking his head,

"_None of them even mentioned you using an unforgivable, I do believe you've set yourself up with some devoted followers,"_ Lilly offered a half shrug in return,

"_I was curious why no one mentioned it after the acromantula attack, if they don't say anything this time I'll have clear proof they either have no idea what an unforgivable curse is or they're so set on me being a messianic figure that I'm literally able to get away with murder. Either way I sincerely doubt the DMLE is going to toss the Girl-Who-Lived into Azkaban for killing Death Eaters," _Tom only nodded in reply seeing no need to argue the point. As the group began moving again Lilly turned to Ron as the redhead slid to a stop next to her sending a wave of water across the muddy ground,

"Lilly," he huffed obviously trying to catch his breath, she decided to do him a favor by slowing her stride and honestly he'd just killed a pair of Death Eaters in a rather visceral manner so he'd earned bonus points from the violent minded young lady. "Susan Bones just told me she has a charm that can summon Aurors but we have to get clear of the wards set up around the wreck first, what do you think we should do?" Lilly mulled that over a few moments, she still didn't know where her sister, boys, and 'Mione were which had her worried but if she could get help summoned...

"We'll keep following the tracks until we're clear, then we can call in help, we haven't found anyone dead but we've got plenty of injured and we still have no idea what these idiots intended with this attack." Ron nodded quickly as he began eyeing the surrounding area, Lilly was honestly amused by his behavior; to think the ginger who had seen himself as her enemy no less than a year ago was now taking the roll of her protector was just...well it was endearing. Stroking Nelle's head Lilly nimbly skipped about the wreckage when she came upon another group of Death Eaters; these ones seemed a bit...unstable and they seemed to defer to ratty looking man as their leader.

Lillith tried to place a name to the face when Tom spoke up,

"_Rodolphus LeStrange, he's one of-"_ Lilly cut him off there as she tamped down her emotions as best as she could,

_"He's the one who raped Auntie Bella...right?_" Tom remained quiet for a time before he nodded, twirling her wand Lilly was about to rush the clearing when a war cry not heard since the days of Camelot roared across the wreckage strewn terrain,

"IT'S SODOMY TIME BITCHES!" Blinking rapidly Lilly watched as her God Brother rushed the Death Eaters with a sword drawn while he was being followed by a Soul Reaver and a small blonde girl. Taking a moment to collect herself Lilly quickly asked,

"_Did Neville just scream the Longbottom war cry while charging Death Eaters beside a Lesser Old One?"_ Tom wanted to remain silent but felt it best to just clear the situation as fast as possible so he begrudgingly nodded and stated,

"_Yes love that's exactly what just happened,"_ nodding slowly in return she muttered,

"Brilliant," and charged out into the clearing firing curses as fast as she could, no way in hell were Nev and Sally going to have all the fun tonight, bloody Gryffindors.

* * *

Bellatrix groaned loudly as she reached up to her forehead and immediately winced upon touching it, grunting she forced her eyes open taking in the smoldering wreckage surrounding her as the cold rain continued its unending staccato on the shredded metal sheeting. Sighing she looked about until she caught sight of her husband; seeing the werewolf sprawled out unmoving caused the normally free spirited witch to panic as she quickly army crawled over to his still form.

"Remus, love are you ok? Bloody hell it's like the Orient Express all over again..." still mumbling she cast a quick enervate on the man whose eyes immediately snapped open as he abruptly sat up nearly clipping her nose with the motion. Nostrils flaring a throaty growl boiled up from deep within the werewolf as his eyes glowed a feral gold,

"Bella..trix...you...ok...?" He managed to spit out over his partially elongated teeth, sobbing happily she threw her arms around the furious man peppering him with kisses causing the wolf to slowly recede.

"Yes my lovely fuzzy hubby I'm all right, what about you?" Eyes still glowing he gently untangled his wife from his lap and stood while guiding her up as well,

"Moony smells our pup in danger, he's...not taking it well..." Bellatrix nodded slowly as she took his hand in hers smiling gently as she tightened the grip on her wand,

"Lets find our Little Viper then, if I know my daughter as well as I think I do she's probably already leading the counter charge at whoever did this, shall we?" Nodding once he gently squeezed her hand and as one the couple rose on columns of black smoke as they began to survey the area, the werewolf tactfully deciding not to comment on his wife's slip up in reference to their niece. Truthfully he thought it was cute, maybe...maybe it was time to give Bellatrix the family she wanted, it was certainly something to consider.

* * *

Tonks was at her wits end, she was stuck in a cabin with injured students while her sister was out enduring Morrigan knows _what_ all while what sounded like a full blown war was going on outside of their upturned car. Growling to herself she was about ready to just hit the door with a blasting hex, confined spaces be damned, when there was a series of clicks and the aforementioned door slid aside. Blinking in surprise as she was abruptly doused in rain water the Auror met a pair of wide blue eyes staring down at her from within a halo of sopping wet golden hair,

"Hello, I am looking for my friend Lillith Potter, this was her cabin was it not? It is rather difficult to tell at the moment, the trans-dimensional marmots are quite active after that crash, they are usually only in such numbers when running from large groups of Dementors so I suspect...oh!" Pausing her confusing monologue the small blonde girl turned to the three young Slytherins but her happy smile quickly fell when she saw the state they were in. "No Lillith Potter...are you all right Blaise Zabini?" Smiling thinly the tired third year nodded slowly,

"Hello Luna, I'm...fine but Lilly isn't here she went to the loo before the attack, Draco and Hermione both took nasty hits to the head so we're rather immobile at the moment," brow crinkling slightly Luna worried her lip as she looked over her shoulder. Letting out a sigh she quickly shook her head as she offered her hand to Tonks,

"When we find her it would be best not to let her know they have been hurt, Lillith Potter tends to be somewhat overprotective of her friends, if she finds out these gentlemen hurt Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, well I dare say it will not end well for them."

* * *

Lilly rarely if ever had the opportunity to truly show off her combat prowess, years of martial arts, yoga, and gymnastics mixed with her families trainings had turned her into a potent weapon and tonight she was in her element and she was loving every moment of it. Spinning out of the way of yet another killing curse the Lady of Slytherin cackled as she threw a returning bombarda at her assailant sending giblets of flesh and gouts of blood spraying when it struck the surprised Death Eater.

"Ya know, I expected more from you lot, followers of the Dark Lord and all that, or is it Azkaban took the edge off all of you? I question that since Uncle Sirius is still-Whoa!" Stopping mid sentence Lilly hopped out of the way as a flame whip slapped the space she'd been occupying a moment earlier tearing an arc of steaming mud through the air. Turning to face Rodolphus LeStrange Lilly grinned to herself but ended up yelping as she back flipped away from the mans followup reductor curse, landing in a handstand she retook her feet and warily eyed the manically grinning wizard.

"You talk too much girl," was all the sallow skinned Death Eater stated as he cast a chain of dark curses at the now rapidly running girl,

"Shite shite shite!" She yelled as she dove behind a bit of wreckage, the thin metal barrier warping and glowing a cherry red as it failed to dissipate the power of the curses it was attempting to absorb, pointing her wand over the jagged edge Lilly threw several curses back at her assailant and with another undignified yelp jumped away as a large boulder slammed into her former resting spot.

Gritting her teeth she stood up straight while bellowing out, "MOTHER FUCKER!" as she channeled her magic into the tip of her wand, "You wanna play you bloody corpse nibbler?! FINE LETS PLAY! CZAR BOMBARDA!" Lilly didn't know what she hit, or even if she hit anything, all she did know was a pressure wave of heat and a flash evaporating water sent her flying as a greasy mushroom cloud took to the sky. Landing on her back she gasped for breath and began coughing as clods of mud and bits of metal began falling around her, holding her head and wincing at the ongoing storms lightning strikes she belatedly realized she'd lost her glasses in her impromptu flying session. Grimacing as her sensitive eyes began to water Lilly was about to rise when she noticed the ragged figure standing before her, gasping she kicked herself back into a hillock as she stared up at the irate Death Eater before her,

"Ya know I didn't believe Pettigrew at first, but he was right, you are one difficult bitch to kill, I'll give you that, now do me a favor and-" he was cut off as a mad cackle cut through the air, Lilly grinned as Rodolphus paled. The echoing laughter carried through the misty air as a plume of pitch black smoke crashed into the center of the confrontation, as a wave of muddy water was sent flying from the heavy landing Bellatrix and Remus Lupin strode from the impact crater both smiling grimly. Taking in the surrounding carnage Lilly's Auntie Bella cackled once again,

"Rejoice my lovelies, for _terrible_ things are about to happen!"

* * *

Rodolphus LeStrange was not a stupid man despite the innumerable amount of people who would state otherwise considering the actions of his late teens; rather he was a man who recognized his faults and weaknesses and acknowledged he had rather spectacularly screwed up his life. The night he and his dearly deceased brother had forced themselves on his betrothed he had been drunk on fire whiskey and high on Slytherins win of the Quiditch cup, and after being badgered by his housemates for years he'd finally been goaded into taking 'what was his.' More the fool was he, that one action led to a concussion via a pubescent werewolf, expulsion, and homeschooling to complete his NEWT's; not a week after he got his results he was forced by his father to take the Dark Mark.

Dodging yet another dark curse from his former betrothed the shaggy haired man landed in a three point crouch while swiping his wand hand across his face to clear the rain water from his eyes. Gritting his teeth he decided that it was the cackling that got to him the most, Bellatrix was unhinged and everyone knew it but refused to bring it up out of a well developed sense of self preservation; the reality that the insane bitch had a miniature version of herself hopping around in the background didn't help at all. He _really_ wanted to ring Pettigrew's neck over that little slip in intel, the 'Girl-Who-Lived' was about as "harmless" as an enraged dragon and he had the lacerations to prove it; swearing he dodged yet another curse as the twin ravenettes (give or take a couple decades) approached his position both grinning widely.

"He certainly outclasses the other riff raff I've been clearing out Auntie Bella, I suppose he'd have to be a higher grade of vermin to have ever gotten the better of you," that pissed him off right then and there. He was a bloody _LeStrange_ for Merlin's sake and this waif was going to talk down to him like he was nothing but common cannon fodder? Oh that would not stand, popping up he cast several blood boilers and entrail expellers as he dove to cover and began swearing violently as that bloody fucking werewolf sent a severing curse his way. Falling to the mud he felt his hair whip about as the curse passed him and slammed into several tree causing them to crash down shaking the area,

"I was giving you a bit of trouble before the whore showed up you little trollop, or are you choosing to forget that?" Rodolphus grimaced as he felt a tinge in the air, wrong thing to say,

"GLACIUS INTERNUS MAXIMUS!" Oh fuck. Rushing to his feet he barely twirled away in time as the curse sped past him and slammed into one of the disposables that Pettigrew had sent out with him. Grimacing Rodolophus turned away as dozens of glistening frozen spines shot out from the mans body, poor bastard didn't even have time to scream before he fell over and shattered into meaty chunks upon impact. After a few moments of trying to gather his wits the girl sang out in a mocking tone,

"Come out come out where ever you are Rudy, are you hiding after talking all that good shite? Color me disappointed,"

Bloody. Fucking. Hell. Despite everything he'd gone through over the years that little slip of a witch had managed to seriously piss him off more then he had ever been before,

"A lot of talk with little action don't you think?" He yelled out, crouching he made his way to a bit of wreckage before continuing, "I mean really, everyone talks about the 'Girl-Who-Lived' as if you're some sort of god yet here you are in the mud and blood with the rest of us." Silence was his only response until he clearly heard the girl in question sigh out in a deadpan tone,

"Bored now, CZAR BOMBARDA!" Oh hell, sprinting as the glow behind him grew brighter the Death Eater spun in place while casting the most powerful shield he could think of as he dumped all his magic into it, then there was a deafening roar, a bright light and screaming. Quite a bit of the latter if were to be honest with himself which he tended to be, get locked in a 7x7 stone box for ten years and you learn that lying to ones self only makes the Dementors worse. Regardless of those lovely stray thoughts Rodolphus was sent flying across the battlefield landing in a heap some distance away, groaning he sat up and blinked away the spots swimming in front of his eyes as he gently patted his smoldering robes down.

Shuddering he took to his feet shakily trying to focus past the ringing in his ears when he more felt then heard a crash through the underbrush, turning quickly his eyes bugged out as a massive pale hunched over _thing_ with far too many teeth and claws charged at him while bellowing an unearthly roar. The thing was on him in seconds and in one smooth motion bit down on his wand hand while jerking its head to the side tearing his fingers off in a spray of blood. Rodolphus could only stare at his ruined hand in numb shock, the shreds of flesh and sinew hanging off the cracked bones fluttering gently in the rain swept wind almost mockingly.

Before the pain had a chance to set in the creature backhanded the now crippled wizard sending him to the ground, it took one languid step forward as it placed its clawed foot on his chest and began pressing down. As the air rushed out of his lungs he knew his ribs were about to snap when a chipper voice spoke up,

"That will do Chompy, good Soul Reaver," still in shock Rodolphus turned his head to meet the gaze of a small blonde girl in shredded Gryffindor robes, her glasses had an eerie glint to them that prevented him from seeing her eyes but the amused smirk was enough to unsettle him. "So who do we have here? You survived a Quill Special so you can't be a weakling like the rest of these fools," even in his current position Pure-Blood pride took precedence over common sense as he spat out his reply.

"I'm Lord Rodolphus LeStrange, who are you and more importantly what the fuck is this thing?" He ground the last bit out while gesturing at the creature above him only now feeling the pain of his destroyed hand, his agonized groan was quickly cut off as a swords point touched the center of his throat. Gulping unconsciously his gaze followed the blade up its length sweeping past the trembling hand grasping the hilt up the thin arm and stocky body to finally lock on an oddly familiar face. The boys blonde hair was filthy and matted but it was pulled clear of his eyes so he could clearly see they were exuding nothing short of pure unadulterated hatred, the boy let a cold smirk crawl up his face as he pushed down gently on the sword drawing a bit of blood.

"My name is Neville Longbottom. You killed my father. Prepare to die." As the blade sliced through his neck Rodolphus was oddly at peace with his end, at the very least he'd finally get to see his brother again, he found that strangely comforting as the world faded to black.

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**Ok with these four chapters strung together I'm hoping to have a new one out by the end of the weekend and get this show where I want it to be, namely fourth year and beyond, anywho please review!**

**EDIT-RIGHT! Forgot, the Poll is still up to voice your opinion on who our lovely Lady will try to woo, next chapter I'm making the poll public so get your opinion heard now!**


	34. Best Laid Plans of Rats and Madmen

**So I'm sure some of you noticed that there are chapters missing, I condensed the entire train deal into one chapter so it's all still there, no worries I was just annoyed at all the little snippets and wanted one concise piece.**

**ANYWAY! This is the last of the wreck deal and we get to find out what it's entire point was while introducing three primary villains for the foreseeable future. Next chapter will be an abbreviated explanation of Lilly's new classes and how all the students are coping with being traumatized by the wreck and Death Eaters, traumatized by their new DADA professors, and then traumatized by having ministry assigned Dementors making them relive everything.**

**I'm thinking for the most part the next two chapters will actually blitz through to Yule and then it will slow a bit as Hermione and Lilly discover Luna's affinity for reality warping runes and the chaos I intend for them to get involved with it. Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed the unfolding story and hope to hear from your reviews.**

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**Edit-Obviously since you lot can't leave two reviews for Chapter 34 since I did that whole condensing thing just leave guest reviews with your name in front, still wanna hear from you all! Wish I'd thought about that before hand...eh...spilt milk.**

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Several hundred kilometers from where the Hogwarts Express had been rather rudely derailed sat three men in a dark room, the trio were all too thin to be truly healthy but after years in Azkaban they were doing very well all things considered, their goblin supplied makeovers helping their long term recovery quite a bit. Before the three men floated a half dozen large mirrors each displaying different angles of the besieged train wreck, the man on the left lit a cigarette with an old fashioned oil lighter and released a puff of smoke before speaking,

"I have to admit Rookwood, I was skeptical about this setup but I'm now a believer, where did you get this contraption anyway?" The man on the right sniffed a bit as he extended his middle finger to push his horn rimmed glasses up his nose, lifting a complex paddle with several unlabeled nobs up to the light of the mirrors he adjusted a few changing the scenes before them.

"We were researching it shortly before I was thrown into Azkaban," the mans soft voice took on a harsh tone at this but the former Unspeakable continued regardless, "But with so much manpower gutted from the war and that imbecile Fudge cutting funding wherever he can manage it the project fell to the wayside. A group of Korean wizards picked up the idea and actually went through with finishing it, this was the prototype that was sent to the British Ministry for some foolish tournament being held at Hogwarts next year," he laughed a bit before continuing, "the door wasn't even locked, idiots."

The man in the middle chair snorted at that as he sipped from a fluted glass of wine, pointing at one of the mirrors Rookwood obeyed the none verbal command as the mirrors clicked together forming one large screen displaying the angle wanted,

"_Hey kids wanna see a dead body!? Avada Kedavra,"_ the man snorted as one of the rapists fell dead and the young girl charged in knife swinging as some ginger blew apart the voyeurs of the group with a well placed explosion curse.

"What do you think Dolohav? I'm fairly certain that girls a bit more of a threat then you originally thought," the man on the left shrugged as he took another drag from his cigarette,

"She's a half-blood whore like the ones that were getting rutted in the mud, so what if she has some skill at the dark arts she's still inferior to a true Pure-Blood Pettigrew, no matter what you say about her." Peter sighed while shaking his head as Rookwood adjusted a few nobs, much to his companions surprise the names of the girls being assaulted popped up causing Dolohav to grimace.

"It would seem," Rookwood began once again adjusting his glasses, "That our erstwhile comrades were in fact sexually assaulting Pure-Bloods, Slytherins and a Ravenclaw, hmmm oh my." Suddenly a massive creature the former Unspeakable had only seen in books charged into the clearing being led by a boy with a sword,

"_Its sodomy time bitches!"_ For his part Pettigrew's initial response was to raise a single eyebrow while turning to his left,

"I believe I'm missing some context here?" Dolohov shook himself blinking rapidly before replying,

"Longbottom war cry, translated from Olde Welsh it was something like 'Prepareth thy rectum naive' or some such, they modernized it shortly after ending a goblin rebellion in a rather horrifying manner. Didn't you pay attention in History of Magic?" Pettigrew rolled his eyes at that while shaking his head,

"Antonin I think roughly eight none-Ravenclaws have paid attention to Binns in the past three hundred years, not that it matters since little Lillith exorcised him," it was Dolohov's turn to roll his eyes at Pettigrew's praise while Rookwood remained silent as he scribbled notes on a scrap of parchment. Clearing his throat the bespectacled man gained his companions attention once again as he pointed at the monster currently munching on a Death Eaters head,

"That gentleman is a Class 3 Flesh Golem, also known as a Soul Reaver since ...err...one exchanges the victims soul for the demonic possession..." The other two turned back to the screen in time to see the small blonde girl guiding the beast laugh as a gout of blood splashed across her feet,

"Huh," was their only reply to that, the mirrors split up again showing different angles of an ongoing duel between LeStrange and the Lupins as the Potter girl threw in the occasional spell, Dolohov put his cigarette out on his armrest while growling in disgust as LeStrange was sent flying by a rather impressive explosion curse.

"He was supposed to portkey out when he ran out of cannon fodder not get in a tiff with his ex, we...err...never mind..." he cut off his statement with a wave of his hand as the blonde boy with the sword cleaved through the mans neck. Rookwood tilted his head to the side 'hmming' to himself a moment before turning to Pettigrew,

"Well do you think it will work?" At this the rat animagus let out a sharp bark of laughter that more belonged to Sirius Black then Peter Pettigrew,

"Oh course it will work, Fudge is an idiot and Umbridge is an opportunist, as soon as the Dementors are sent to 'Protect' Hogwarts from the big scary Death Eaters we'll be free to move and find where our Lord is currently recovering his strength." Peter made a very active point to not say "where he is hiding," he needed to work with these people without getting stabbed in the back, kind of like what he just did to the disposable attack force.

"Well then, now that we've cleared the riff raff from our ranks it's time for me to get them back into fighting trim, how long do you think it will take the two of you to find the Dark Lord?" Rookwood exchanged a glance with Pettigrew then shrugged,

"It's not necessarily finding him insomuch as it is moving him, if he did as I suspected and created a soul anchor it would benefit us immensely to find it and bring it to his shade, assuming of course the rumors about Quirrell were true. There's also always the option of preparing a short term homunculus but lets leave that as a plan 'B', the process of making one can be...squiky." Pettigrew nodded at that as several flashes of light appeared on the mirrors, all three men glanced up to see dozens of Aurors and Albus Dumbledore himself appearing in the middle of the now quiet battlefield.

"Cut it," Pettigrew stated flatly, Rookwood nodded as he flicked a switch and the dozen monitor devices that looked like little more then golden snitches with a massive eyeball in the center exploded with sharp pops, no need for the magic to be traced to their hideout after all.

As the dimmed lights brightened up the rather opulent room the three men stood stretching, popping his back Pettigrew scratched the side of his nose while turning to Dolohov, "I'm going to have to make an occasional appearance at Hogwarts to keep the Dementors focused there so this may be slow going, have patience Rookwood is one of the best and he _will_ find our master.

The taciturn man nodded once before turning to the mirror still displaying the raped girls names looking a bit uneasy,

"What about them? I know we sent the most violent out to get themselves killed but we didn't want the daughters of any of our allies violated in the process," Pettigrew tapped his chin thoughtfully at that a moment then smiled.

"Well, since Saint Mungo's is going to be a madhouse and I do know the basics of healing I can sneak in and cover it up, the last thing we need is Selwyn turning on us because of those idiots, plus Lilly might be there and I can finally speak to her." Dolohov shook his head while throwing his hands in the air,

"What _is_ it with you and that half-blood bint! Fine, whatever, just make sure they don't end up with child and obliviate them, and if you get caught trying to talk to the Potter brat you better not lead the Aurors back here." At that Rookwood surprisingly spoke up for the man in question,

"Please it's not like we're dealing with Karkaroff here, go Peter, do what you must I'll begin preperations for our expedition," nodding once in thanks the blue eyed wizard gave a Dolohov a curt bow and left the room. The rooms two remaining occupants stared at the door for a few moments before Dolohov let out an exasperated sigh,

"He's insane, you know that right?" Rookwood shrugged as he began shrinking the mirrors and packing them up, looking over his shoulder glasses sliding down his nose he quietly replied with,

"And we're not?" Dolohov crossed his arms as he turned for the door to begin his own preparations,

"Fair enough."

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Lilly reflected that the 'Good Guys' always seemed to show up after she'd done the hard work, trolls, acromantulas, pedophiles and the like, and now she could add Death Eaters to the list. Sighing she pushed her way through the huddled masses being portkeyed to Saint Mungo's trying to not let the pandemonium get to her; all the dead bodies littering the ground didn't really help matters, no students thankfully. She let a wry grin crawl up her face at that thought, she was honestly shocked at how...violently the students of Hogwarts had fought back, proud, but surprised; absently petting Nelle's head Lilly finally caught sight of one of her targets.

"BLAISE!" The tired looking Italian turned around just in time to get engulfed in a tight hug that very nearly dislodged Lilly's familiar from her shoulders, "I was so worried, are you ok?! Where Hermione and Draco?!" Blaise smiled in return and let the small witch melt into his arms,

"Lillith, thank Merlin we were worried about you, they're fine, a bit banged up, Luna managed to get us out of our cabin shortly before the Aurors showed up. I actually went looking for your big sister but I'm glad I found you instead, follow me," and she did just that letting the boy take her hand as he guided her through the rapidly disappearing groups and soon found herself before a sight that broke her heart.

"'mione...little dragon..." both Hermione and Draco looked so fragile leaning against a bit of wreckage, bandages wrapped around their heads and blankets about their shoulders, they were both out of it but at least they were being kept warm and out of the rain. Worrying her lip Blaise lifted a contemplative eyebrow as she imitated her best friends nervous habit before she let out a startled yelp as she was tackled to the ground. Blinking she looked down at her assailant and met the startling blue gaze of Luna Lovegood, not a moment later Hedwig landed on the petite witch's back,

"Lillith Potter, are you all right?" Lilly was about to snark back at the blonde when she noticed the happy smile and what appeared to be tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, could just be the rain though. Sighing in exasperation she pried her second year friend from around her waist sending an indignant Hedwig flying, oddly enough Nelle didn't seem to care about the fall at all.

"Yeah I'm all right Luna, you?" She nodded slowly as Hedwig claimed her spot on the blondes shoulder,

"Yes, I thought Dementors were headed this way but I believe the Aurors frightened them off, oh look here comes your sister," Lilly turned to see a rather disheveled 'Dora approach their group, she gave Lillith a hug and ruffled her muddied messed up hair as she greeted them with a tired,

"Wotcher, glad to see you're all right sis, we'll catch up later first things first I have the portkey you lot ready to go?" The three conscious teens nodded as they grabbed the offered can, "I'll side along apparate these two, it'll be gentler, meet up in a few minutes." With that the two Slytherins and Ravenclaw were swept off their feet and in no time arrived at the main lobby of Saint Mungo's, thankfully for all three of them they managed to stay standing as they landed. Blaise separated to go check on Sally (Lilly smirked at that earning her a scowl in return) and soon 'Dora returned with Hermione and Draco, dropping Crookshanks next to his mistress she apologized that she had to get back to the wreck before getting a hug from both girls and soon apparated away.

Soon a group of medi-witches came along and scanned her friends, Draco was taken away almost immediately but they left Hermione laying were she'd been. Exchanging a concerned glance with Luna Lilly held her peace until one of the older healers walked past,

"Excuse me, ma'am, why hasn't my friend been taken when you've already seen to Draco Malfoy? The healer scowled at her obviously not recognizing who she was through the blood and muck as she tersely replied with,

"She's a mudblood, lower priority," Lilly's eyes widened in shock and the healer took a step back in fear as she stared into the now glowing emerald obsidian orbs, palming her wand she took a discrete look around before quietly muttering,

"Imperio," the healers eyes turned slightly glassy and she stared at the Girl-Who-Lived awaiting orders, smiling coolly Lilly glanced down at her prone friend, "You will see to Hermione's needs, you will treat her just as you would a Pure-Blood witch, and you will forget this ever happened once you're done, now move." The imperiused healer nodded as she levitated Hermione and began guiding the small procession to a private room. Lillith hadn't noticed the man leaning against the wall behind her, his long graying hair pulled into a ponytail, blue eyes gleaming as he smirked at the Slythrins retreating form,

"So much like your mother," Peter stated with a shake of his head as he went to go complete his self assigned task of political damage control, he'd have time to talk to James' daughter later in the school year.

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Neville was in the waiting room sitting beside Sally-Anne who was still crying at the loss of her Soul Reaver; the aurors had decided at first glance that it was obviously something the Death Eaters had brought with them and had promptly torn it apart with saturation fire. Sally had barely sobbed out "_Chompy nooo!"_ before her pet abomination fell to the ground dead. Err...if it was alive to begin with, honestly Neville had quit trying to figure that sort of thing out when it came to anything Bellatrix taught the girls in his life, shifting the still bloodied sword from his lap he was about to say something hopefully soothing when they heard someone clearing their throat

They both looked up to meet Blaise Zabini's tired gaze, the normally immaculate Slytherin looked like pretty much everyone else at the moment, which is to say terrible. Neville actually didn't know the other teen very well despite how close his godsister was to him, he was just that quiet, Blaise ignored Neville for the most part as he gave Sally his full attention,

"Sally whats wrong?" Sobbing openly the small blonde rushed over to the Italian wizard crushing him in a hug,

"Oh Blaise it's terrible the bloody bobbies killed Chompy! He would never hurt anyone I didn't tell him to! It's so unfair!" Blaise looked over the sobbing witch's shoulder meeting Neville's eyes, his face expressing little more then being utterly perplexed, resisting the urge to laugh Neville leaned back into his chair while shaking his head. After a moment he just mouthed, "Roll with it" which Blaise seemed to accept as he guided Sally to a small couch. Neville for his part reflected on his actions today and found himself...numb...he'd killed, quite a bit as a matter of fact and the only death that kept coming back to him was LeStrange.

Running a hand through his now wild hair he stared up at the ceiling when a stern voice called his name, the formidable woman had at every other point in his life been one of the scariest things in his life...that was then, this was now,

"Neville," glancing up he saw his Gran standing in the doorway, she was wearing a conservative dress but lacked all her other ornamentation, what surprised him most was not that she was there, but that she looked like she'd been crying.

"Hey Gran, I...I avenged Mum and Dad...I...I killed Lestrange...th-the Sword of Gryffindor came to me and I...I..." the startled boy barely had time to toss said sword to the ground as his grandmother rushed across the room and pulled him into a hug, he had no idea the old woman had such a grip.

"Oh my boy, my sweet boy I'm so sorry, so so sorry," Neville would later thank Blaise and Sally for never mentioning how both of the only surviving Longbottoms broke into uncontrollable tears at their reunion. If he took one good thing from this fiasco it was learning that the only parental figure in his life really did love him it just took a calamity for her to show it, in the end he'd take what he could get.

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**As always, read and review! Also I'm making the vote for Lilly's future love interests public so you all can take a look, as of now its**

**Hermione-105 Votes (32%)**

**Tom Riddle-72 Votes (22%)**

**Fleur Delacour-63 Votes (19%)**

**Luna Lovegood-52 Votes (16%)**

**And everyone else is so low it isn't even worth mentioning, truthfully a bit surprised but I'm already building up who she dates for how long in my outline, just thought I'd share. Anywho, take care all!**


	35. You Can't Always Get What You Want

**As before your idiot author deleted and combined several chapters so if you reviewed the original chapter 35 you'll have to review this as a guest, please just insert your name because I WANT to hear from you folks**

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Severus Snape was never one to honestly expect the beginning of a new term to be problem free, he was after all a realist, on that note he most certainly never expected the Hogwarts Express to be attacked by his former associates resulting in the complete destruction of said mode of transportation. He'd never really understood the point of the thing if truth were to be told, it was a pain in the arse to gather all the brats in one place and had been more then a bit of a hindrance for muggle-born students. He'd heard more then a few Irish families mumble about the trip to Kings Cross Station and the cost to get there, though if they could afford Hogwarts rather ludicrous tuition it really shouldn't have been an issue in that regard.

Still though, why bother with a train when they could just mail timed portkeys to students with their yearly letters? The bloody things weren't regulated because they were expensive, rather the ministry just wanted to control the near instantaneous and secure mode of transportation so what was the point of the train? He muttered this thought to himself as he walked beside the Headmaster as the pair made their way through the crowded corridors of Saint Mungo's, much to his surprise the older man responded in a sad tone.

"It was tradition, or that is what the Board of Governors used to say whenever Minerva brought it up during fiscal meetings, she'd often argue the cost of maintaining the Express and shielding the hundreds of kilometers of track from prying eyes was money ill spent. I of course agreed with her, tradition or not we've had to cut several important classes from the curriculum to keep the train running, I suppose we finally got our wish."

Severus sighed at that but didn't have a chance to reply before the pair stopped before Madam Bones, the head of the DMLE was speaking to one of the students in a firm tone but it was obvious she was beyond stressed out at this point. The ginger she'd been interviewing looked a bit drawn out himself but much to Severus' surprise he wasn't a stuttering a mess, Madam Bones turned to address the new arrivals and greeted them with a nod.

"Headmaster, Professor, I was just having a rather interesting chat with young Mister Weasley here, apparently outside of a few...isolated instances most of the students survived their little misadventure with nothing more severe then broken bones. It would appear that the students also led a counter offensive against the attacking Death Eaters, there were no survivors from You-Know-Who's forces."

Both men wore mixed looks of shock at this, Severus himself was mildly impressed while Dumbledore looked more saddened then before, Ronald for his part just nodded in agreement with the stern looking woman.

"Yeah a few of us formed groups and cleared them out best we could while we gathered survivors, Neville Longbottom and Cedric Diggory for sure led their own umm...squads I guess you'd call 'em?" The freckled boys face shifted to a look of deep pride as he continued his explanation, "I was with Lillith Potter, blimey that girl can be scary when she wants to be." Suddenly giving the boy all his attention Severus drawled out,

"How so Mister Weasley?" Gulping as the embodiment of terror for most Gryffindors glared at him Ronald shifted his gaze to Dumbledore who nodded once, the boy turned his eyes back to the Potions professor as he continued.

"Well I was cornered by a pair of 'em, they recognized me as a Weasley and hit me with a spell that...well it hurt alot, crotia...cruci...I don't quite remember honestly, was screaming quite a bit at that point." All three adults looked ashen faced at this as Dumbledore calmly asked,

"Dear boy was it something like 'crucio'?" Ronald nodded quickly at that causing Severus to grimace, he was all too aware of how that curse felt,

"Right that, anyway after they hit me with that they began taunting me, then Lillith came out of no where and stabbed one of 'em in the head while her pet snake bit the other," Dumbledore gasped at that while Madam Bones brow furrowed.

"Pet snake mister Weasley?" Ronald nodded quickly while glancing once to Severus as if afraid what he'd say would get him in trouble, and in previous years perhaps it would but they'd intended for the school at large to find out about Lillith's parselmouth ability this year. Really there was no other way they could justify a meter long fire breathing snake following her around,

"Yeah, her Emberscale Nelle, anyway her knife got stuck in the first blokes head and the one who got bit was going to curse her when her back was turned so I caught him on fire, then her snake finished him off." Albus looked mournful at this revelation as he placed a hand on the teens shoulder,

"My dear boy I'm so sorry you had to take a life," the aged Headmaster was about to say something more but the ginger shrugged in indifference before he could continue,

"Eh, three really, although technically I suppose that first one was an assist," Dumbledore gaped at that as Severus raised a single eyebrow,

"And how did you accomplish this Mister Weasley?" Shrugging again the boy looked as if he was about to fall over, apparently the days deeds had finally caught up with him,

"Bombarda curse, it was...alot messier then the book made it out to be..." At this Amelia actually looked a bit confused and asked for clarification,

"The bombarda curse Mister Weasley? As in the explosion spell?" Nodding once while his brow furrowed a bit over the question he replied quickly,

"Yeah, we were told to buy some other books for our DADA class aside from the text, now normally you wouldn't catch me reading in the summer but I'm trying to bring my grades back up and the titles well...I was curious, good thing too..." Albus looked a bit confused at this, apparently he hadn't read this years book lists before they were sent out,

"Do you recall what the books titles were?" Ronald nodded quickly face brightening slightly,

"Kinda hard to forget Headmaster, first one was '_Stunners Are For Suckers' _and the second was _'Kill It With Fire: 101 Ways To Fight the Dark Arts with Everyday Spells_'," Amelia made a choking noise at that and quickly thanked the boy before dismissing him. Turning back to the two professors she removed her monocle and began rubbing her eyes, sighing out in exasperation she finally spoke up.

"Dumbledore...why were your students assigned Auror level training manuals written by Alastor '_Bloody Fucking_' Moody?" For the first time in his life Severus Snape bore witness to the great Albus Dumbledore being at a loss for words, he'd have to share this memory with Lilly later; making a note to buy some popcorn he dismissed himself to find his daughter.

After asking about he eventually found a young medi-witch who blushed far too much at his attention, much to his chagrin he accepted her floo-call address before being directed towards the room Lillith was residing in, too worried to bother with knocking he opened the door quickly to find a healer busying herself over one Hermione Granger. On the other side of the bed was his daughter, Lillith looked contrite as she stared down at her comatose friend and honestly appeared quite formidable with the snake wrapped around her waist, owl on her shoulder and what looked like a small lion at her feet. The healer turned to Lillith and began speaking in a monotone that had Severus raise a brow,

"She will be fine mistress, I will prescribe some potions that she will have to take for the next few weeks but that is all," Lillith for her part nodded once as the tension obviously left her body,

"Very well, you may go about your duties," the healer nodded and went for the door her glassy eyed gaze never once shifting to the potions master, brows furrowing at this his ruminations were interrupted when Lillith noticed his presence, "DADDY!" she cried happily as she sent all her familiars flying in her dive into his arms. Pulling her close he held her fast and felt a few tears slip down his cheeks, his Lilly was all right, which meant all was right with the world, as his daughter sobbed out what had happened and why Hermione was in the bed he guided her to one of the empty chairs.

Taking a seat Lilly curled into his lap arms wrapped around his neck as she wept, Severus did all he could to calm her but was well aware this was nothing more then venting, her mother had done this more then once and it was no surprise her daughter followed suit. After a time she calmed down and he ran his hand through her long matted hair a few times,

"Better?" He asked quietly, she nodded slowly as she unknotted her arms from around his neck and stood trying to compose herself, letting out a shuddering breath she rubbed her eyes and Severus noted for the first time her blackout glasses were missing. "Where are your glasses dear?" She snorted at that while twirling a finger in the air and rolling her eyes,

"Tried to blow up LeStrange, over charged it and sent myself flying, lost them in the fall," Severus tsked softly as he reached into his robes and pulled out a slim case, handing it to his daughter she brightened up a bit as she cracked it open revealing a pair of green tinted glasses.

"Do try to be more careful dear, while we have the money it is still a bother to charm these as heavily as you like them," sliding the glasses on she turned to her dad and wrapped him in another hug as she kissed his cheek and eased back into his arms.

"Thanks daddy, what would I do without you?" He snorted at that rolling his dark eyes to the ceiling,

"Be blind more then like, now we need to talk about your actions, that healer was obviously under the imperius curse, care to explain?" Lillith stiffened immediately and jumped to her feet as she quickly twitched her head back and forth,

"Nothing to talk about, she's a nice old lady who decided to help my friend out..." Severus just stared at her, despite the dark lenses protecting her gaze she began fidgeting and after a time her shoulders sagged as she let out a resigned sigh. "The stupid bitch told me Hermione was a mudblood and a low priority so I cursed her to take care of her..." It was Severus' turn to sigh as he brought his hand up and rubbed his eyes, turning back to his daughter he calmly asked,

"Did you at least do it in private?" Now blushing tomato red which, by the way proved her guilt as far as her dad was concerned, Lilly soon became oddly fascinated with the rooms singular potted plant as she mumbled a reply. Sighing once again he put a bit more force in his voice as he spoke again, "What was that dear, I didn't catch it," grimacing as if she'd just bitten into a rotten lemon his daughter dropped her head to her chest before replying.

"I...may have cast it in the middle of the waiting room," as he took in a sharp breath she quickly approached him hands extended as if to ward off a blow her voice clearly indicating that she was panicking, "I made sure no one saw me and I said it real quiet like, only Luna heard me and she's legit she won't say anything!" Severus tried his best to remain calm but he had to rely on his occulmancy more then he'd like to admit,

"Lillith. Dorea. Potter." Said young woman's already pale skin went milk white at her dads seething statement, taking a step back her lower lip began to tremble as he continued unabated. "You led an assault against Death Eaters, you _killed_ drawing further attention to yourself and then of all the dunderheaded things you cast a BLOODY UNFORGIVABLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HOSPITAL?!" Lilly for her part was now shivering as her dads enraged aura touched her, wilting back she failed to suppress her fresh tears as she tried to avoid Severus' fiery gaze.

"I...I'm sorry...I just...I was worried, I...I hate seeing those I love hurt I just...I just didn't want her to end up like my parents..." All of Severus built up rage deflated at once leaving him feeling drained and hollow. Seeing his daughter standing there crying and in fear of his anger just about killed him, standing he approached her slowly and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, almost instantly she threw her arms around him and began sobbing.

"I'm sorry please don't hate me! I'll be more careful please!" Sighing Severus pulled her close and shook his head slowly,

"Dearest there is literally nothing you could do to make me hate you, please calm down, I just wanted you to understand the severity of the situation, if anyone had heard what you did nothing could have protected you from the law. While Madam Bones has a soft spot for you I do not think that extends to the entirety of the Ministry." Taking in a deep breath he let her cry for a few more minutes before breaking the embrace, taking a knee so the tall man could stare her in the eyes he gently removed her glasses so he could convey what he could without hinderance.

"Lillith, you are literally the only thing in this world that matters to me, my vows to the old fool, my duties as a professor, and my enslavement as a Death Eater, none of those matter. If I lost _you_ I would lose myself, please, do not ever do something so foolish again, you are a _Slytherin_, act like it." Lilly nodded slowly as she wiped her tears away with her dirty sleeve, gripping her chin he pulled her head down and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, "I will always be there for you dearest, but you can't put yourself in a bad position just because your emotions tell you to, understand?" She broke his grasp as she nodded once and threw her arms around him again,

"I understand, and I'm sorry," sighing he patted her back as he rose to his feet, handing her back her glasses he eventually sighed as he realized he had to return to his duties with this entire crisis,

"I have to go dear, but before I do I have to tell you there are repurcussions for your actions, on your first Hogsmeade weekend you're grounded, you'll be staying in the castle with me," face falling she spun to face him as she whined as only a teenage girl could,

"Daaaaaaad!" Rolling his eyes he pointed a finger at her reproachfully as he replied,

"Don't dad me, you broke the law and didn't get caught by said law, if you didn't get caught by me there wouldn't be a punishment now would there?" Lilly was pouting rather adorably at that before she raised a single brow,

"So I'm not being punished for casting the curse?" Snorting Severus shook his head slowly,

"Dearest what do you take me for? I'm a Dark Wizard, you're a Dark Witch, next time be more discreet, remember the words of our house," Lillith smiled coyly at that she she nodded in turn,

"Don't get caught," Severus smirked as he headed for the door,

"But of course, I love you honey, do be careful," Lillith stared at the door for well over ten minutes after her dad left lost in thought, eventually she sighed and grabbed a book off the shelf. Turning to her comatose friend she smiled slightly as she cracked open the brightly colored tome,

"Was never one for wizarding fairy tales, Aunti Andi and Bella always read me medical journals and thesis papers...lets see this story is called the 'Tale of the Three Brothers', Once upon a time..."

* * *

**I actually really love writing Severus as a dad, I think he'd really be kickass at the job. Anyway Next chapter is going to be longer and jumping through several months, it will be rather Luna intensive as well so if anyone has suggestions for our favorite Ravenclaw's antics let me know. As always, REVIEW!**


	36. After the False Start

**So originally I had intended to include a rather vile, bigoted, sexist, and altogether crude PM I'd received today in relation to my work that really bummed me out quite a bit. But rather then give them the satisfaction of knowing they got to me, I'm just going to post this as is.**

**Now that I'm finally over the train thing and we've got the kids at the school we're going to blitz through the first couple of months only really slowing down when a Dementor or Death Eater situation occurs, I want to write fourth year so we're going to get through this goddess damnit! *Ahem*, moving on I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

Hermione sat up with a jolt as her barely conscious mind immediately took survey of her surroundings; first item of note was that she was obviously in a hospital bed which was discerned from the stark white of the linens and the sharp odor of antiseptics. Second item, she was in a friendly environment which was clearly indicated by the cat, owl, and snake sitting across her bed all in varied states of rest; this honestly surprised her a bit but she pushed that aside for the time being. Third item, both Lillith's and her own wands were sitting on the side table next to her bed as well as the filthy set of clothes she recognized as the outfit her best friend had been wearing before she'd lost consciousness.

Willing her scrambled thoughts to make some sort of sense she was brought out of her reverie as a rectangular seam formed in the wall, a moment later it swung open allowing a billowing cloud of steam and stark white light to roil through the room. A musical voice was chirping away from the confines of the glowing rectangle and a moment later a lithe figure with a white towel wrapped around her hair and another around her chest twirled into the room singing to herself.

_"-Ta peine_  
_Les vrais délices_  
_Passent par le supplice_  
_Baisse les armes_  
_Donne tes larmes_

_"Je ressens_  
_De violentes pulsions_  
_J'ai l'impression_  
_De glisser vers le fond_  
_Si j'ignore_  
_D'où vient ce fléau_  
_J'adore_  
_L'avoir dans la peau_  
_Envoûté par des idées folles_  
_Soudain_  
_Mes envies s'envol-"_

Stopping mid-verse Lillith blushed as she paused her dancing about abruptly enough to nearly send herself to the ground, "Hermione, you're awake!" She managed to throw this out without deepening the embarrassed redness spread across her cheeks...much. Rushing to the beds side the towel clad ravenette pulled her bushy haired friend into a tight hug sending all three animals resting on her flying in the process, not that Hermione noticed any of this as her face was pressed into her friends modest cleavage.

"I was so worried about you! They tried to make me leave but that didn't get far when Nelle started hissing at the medi-witches, I _almost_ felt bad for them, almost...ok not at all really, but I _thought_ about feeling bad for them and that's what counts right? Anyway they backed down so I had Kreacher bring us a few changes of clothes. Oh right! You've never met my families house elf have you? He hates pretty much everyone but me and Aunt Cissy but he's a great bloke, I-" At this point Hermione managed to place a finger on her chattering friends lips forcing her to pause her rambling,

"I'm fine, and I'm glad you didn't leave, really, we'll talk about this elf thing later first things first...are you all right?" Lilly stared at her friend for a few moments and it shocked Hermione a bit when she realized the raven haired beauty was tearing up. After a moment the half naked witch pulled her close once again causing Hermione to squeak as the air was squeezed out of her,

"I was so worried I'd lost you..." That...forced Hermoine to grimace as thoughts that were unwelcome in a conservative society rolled through her mind, deciding discretion was the better part of valor she reached around her friend and patted her _naked_ back gently.

"Don't worry I'm fine, but...I have to ask, what exactly happened?" Sighing lightly Lilly released her from her hug as she turned to the elf supplied pile of clothes, Hermione blushed and averted her eyes as the towel wrapping her friends torso fell to the ground as she pulled on a fresh pair of knickers. Fumbling about with the obviously unfamiliar brassier she'd chosen the ravenette began mumbling to herself,

"Bloody well swear these things were designed by a man...gimme a sec...there..." finally getting the article of clothing in place she threw on an oversize pink t-shirt covered in kanji and oddly happy looking cartoon cats; it had more then likely been one of Dora's old shirts that Lilly had inherited when her older sister had moved out. A moment later she was hopping about as she slipped on a matching red skirt and a pair of black stockings, smoothing out the light wrinkles in the slightly worn yet well cared for clothes she nodded in satisfaction as she glanced in the mirror that had replaced the doorway to the shower room, magic was brilliant like that.

Turning back to her friend she threw Hermione a toothy grin that relieved some of the tension the brunette was feeling, obviously Lilly hadn't noticed Hermione's... attention to her actions and for that she was thankful. "Well for what happened on the train Death Eaters decided to attack us," Lilly began, "They Came, They Saw, and we kicked their arses, it was a bit messy but long story made short school starts tomorrow rather then today or err...tonight rather." Lilly tapped her chin with her forefinger as her emerald eyes swung up to stare at the ceiling for a moment before returning her gaze to Hermione, "Oh and I killed a dozen men, so that's Voldemort and his Death Eaters Zero, Lillith Potter Fourteen, good times."

Raising a brow at that Hermione responded with a dry tone, "How does twelve kills equate to fourteen?" She really wasn't all that concerned with her friends thought process on kill ratios, rather that she had to kill so many people, or any people for that matter; but as always she hid her concern for the green eyed witch's mental health under a light veneer of bossy humor. Smirking Lilly fell onto the bed resting her head in Hermiones lap as she stretched her hands out to pet both Crookshanks and Nelle,

"I'm counting the night he blew himself up when he murdered my parents and our entire first year, seemed fair," Hermione tilted her head to the side before nodding once,

"Well I suppose that _does_ seem a bit appropriate, moving along I'm assuming your rather flippant attitude indicates that everything went well in the end?" Lilly frowned at that as she glanced over to meet Hermione's eyes,

"Far too many syllables in that sentence my dear bookworm but yes, everything indicates that the Death Eaters only managed to rough up a few students and blow up a train, all it cost them was a few dozen pawns and most of their credibility." Pulling the towel from Lilly's head she forced her friend to sit up while using her fingers as an impromptu comb, it hadn't even occurred to the brilliant young witch to conjure one as she replied in an even tone,

"You sound like there's more to it then that, what else happened?" Sighing Lilly stopped Hermione's ministrations as she dropped side by side to the brunette witch, rolling over slightly she threw an arm around her friend and pulled her close, burying her face in the pillow her muffled voice was barely understandable.

"Fudge is an idiot, I ever mention that before? Now I'm only getting a bit of hearsay since it's still chaos outside that door, trust me on this one by the way we're best staying in here the rest of the night." Turning her head so she was no longer muffled she continued unabated, "Anyway as I was saying the chatter going about is that in order to protect "_The Poor Vulnerable Students of Hogwarts_" from further attacks Fudge has ordered the entirety of the Ministries Dementor forces to patrol the grounds around the castle," Hermione blinked rapidly as her brilliant mind tried to process that. The way Lilly had laced her words with sarcasm indicated she was likely quoting someone, and that someone just decided to surround the magical youth of the British Isles with Class 6 Soul Vampires.

"Are they daft?" She managed to grind out, "I mean really Dementors protecting children? Bloody hell do they even realize what is required to summon and bind those demons to our realm? Do they not grasp that that-" her indignant tirade sputtered to halt as she felt Lillith shaking with repressed mirth, shifting to stare the younger teen in the eyes she raised a single brow in question.

"Language 'Mione," with that the ravenette broke down into a fit of giggles quickly shared by Hermione who rolled her eyes lightly if not fondly, laying there in comfortable silence the two young witches eventually fell asleep, an hour later Andromeda Tonks poked her head in the room and smiled at the sight. Conjuring a blanket she dropped it on the pair lightly while leaving Hermione's prescribed potions on the side table, despite still having so much to do she let herself have a moment to stare down at her niece and the teens best friend.

She remembered the evening Severus Snape had brought the broken child to her clearly, too clearly really, there had been more then one occasion she'd had to take a dreamless sleep drought to avoid the nightmares; nightmares were she hadn't been talented or fast enough to save a girl who had all but become her daughter. Brushing a bit of hair from Lillith's face Andromeda couldn't help but note that she had begun blossoming into a beautiful young woman; she had the guile and light hearted nature of her father, the looks and intelligence of her mother, and all the while she never let the Darkness in her heart consume her. Oh she hid it well, but Andromeda and her sisters were _Blacks_ after all, that being said the child managed to keep the madness their family had been known for in check all the while being a shining beacon of hope for all those that loved her.

The sad part was she likely would never realize that while she was incredibly over protective of what was 'hers' she'd picked that trait up from those that loved her, probably why Andromeda herself wasn't shocked in the slightest when she found out the little firecracker had cast the Imperius Curse on Healer Bobeck. Andromeda smirked a bit at that, she'd never liked that old hag and Severus had already reprimanded the young teen for her actions so she felt no need to draw attention to what had been done herself.

Her eyes shifted to Hedwig who was perched resolutely on the beds headboard then to the cat and snake who were now making themselves comfortable on their respective mistress, wiping away a tear she turned to leave the room. As she approached the door and was about to nox the lights she took one last glance at the resting forms, meeting the snowy owls wide eyes she whispered out,

"Watch over her, all right?" To her complete lack of surprise the disturbingly intelligent bird bobbed its head once, killing the lights Andromeda went to check on her next patient and silently hoped that this was the last fiasco involving little Lillith for a long, long time.

* * *

The following day was as hectic and chaotic as one would expect, clusters of concerned parents and still shell shocked students were being ushered about by exhausted Aurors who had been given 'Stun First, Ask Questions Never' orders when it came to the media vultures trying to get a story out of the tragedy. Dora and Shack had taken a rather malicious bit of satisfaction practicing that new protocol, the only real exception to the rule was the Lovegood's who the gathered Aurors had been made aware were only present to check up on their daughter.

As Dora was woolgathering as she ushered another group of youngsters to the Floo Kingsley tapped her shoulder once to get her attention, glancing up at the much taller man he silently pointed to a woman in acid green robes harassing a young Gryffindor who was holding a dinged up camera with white knuckled hands. He stared up at the woman with a rather surprising amount of malice,

"As I said ma'am, I have no comment in regards to my client," shifting his gaze to the now alert pair of Aurors who made their way to the confrontation he smirked lightly while nodding once to the bubblegum pink haired older sister of said client.

"Oy! What do you think you're up to!" The guilty always flinched first so the rather gaudily dressed witch turned around at the same time as her dumpy looking photographer, Rita Skeeter was a smooth one though and kept her cool as she shot Dora an insincere smile.

"Why I'm just asking Mister Creevy here if he'd like to make a statement about The-Girl-Who-Lived's actions yesterday, we've all heard it was very dramatic, and since his classmates describe him as quite the shutterbug I'd hoped he'd like to...volunteer a few photos," Shack tilted his head to the side as he deep voice cut any further discussion off.

"I do believe that the head of the DMLE made her opinion on the press quite clear Miss Skeeter, did you think the rules need not apply to yourself?" Puffing up like a rather huffy peacock the reporter pulled her sequenced glasses off as she met the dark skinned Aurors eyes sneering slightly in the process,

"Madam Bones does not have the authority to order the press around, you know the laws if it happens we're allowed to report it...and in whatever light we wish," the threat wasn't subtle, but neither was Rita Skeeter. Dora already had her hand on her Glock ready to knee cap the witch that was obviously threatening her little sister when a throat being cleared caught all their attention, Rita turned with a sigh as her eyes widened taking in the new arrivals.

"Miss Skeeter," Lucius Malfoy drawled out he as placed both hands on the head of his cane leaning forward ever so slightly, "does there seem to be a problem?" Shifting her gaze to the two women flanking him she shook her head slowly afraid to meet the condescending glare of Narcissa Malfoy or the manic lilac eyes of Bellatrix Lupin,"

"No of course not Lord Malfoy, I...this was just a bit of a misunderstanding, I'll just have to wait for the ministries official statement," nodding slowly while managing to look both bored and aloof the three aristocrats stepped aside and let the pair of reporters retreat to the hospitals entrance. Once they were out of earshot Dora turned to her uncle as her hair shifted through various shades of violet,

"That was funny Uncle Lucius, is it always that funny?" He gave the young woman a knowing smile as Narcissa and Bellatrix began chuckling,

"I have no idea what you're speaking of Auror Tonks, none whatsoever, now if you'll excuse me I must gather my son and his friends," the Lord and two Professors said their fair wells and left as quickly as they had arrived. Colin turned to follow them a moment before returning his attention to Kingsley and Dora,

"Well, thank you for that, the woman kept trying to distract me long enough for her partner to lift my film from the crash, I really don't mind selling my photos since I want my name out there but Lillith has to clear it first. She... did not like that," Kingsley sighed at that as he patted the small boy on the shoulder,

"You have a good business ethic there kid, what's your name?" Colin puffed up a bit at that his brown eyes lighting with praise,

"Colin Creevey sir, I'm Lillith Potters official photographer! Err...I suppose that bits fairly obvious isn't it? Sorry I'm rambling, anyway I need to go find my friends and get in the Floo queue, take care and thanks for helping again!" With that the boy was off like a shot, Kingsley's deep chuckle caught his partners attention as she smacked his arm lightly throwing him a grin in return.

"What has you so tickled Shack? Sure the kid was cute in a squeaky business mogul in the making sort of way but really..." Kingsley finished his chuckle off with a laughing sigh as he flashed her a bright smile, his white teeth a sharp contrast to his dark skin.

"Lillith Potters personal photographer is being harassed by the _worst_ type of reporter when her cop big sister shows up ready for violence and not thirty seconds later three of the most politically, culturally, and industrially powerful people in our world show up and intimidate said reporter into running away with her tail between her legs. The fact that these three also happen to be Lillith Potters aunts and uncle just adds to the amusement, Dora, does that girl even realize what kind of Cult of Personality she's formed around her?" Resisting the urge to cackle maniacally the once again pink haired witch kept her response to little more then a wink and a grin,

"Ask me no questions, I'll tell no lies partner of mine, come on lets see the rest of these kiddos off and we'll hit breakfast, I could use some coffee and eggs right now." The tall man grunted his agreement as they returned to their assigned duties,

"As long as it's muggle this time, I swear our entire department acts like the Leaky Cauldron is the only place to get food in London."

* * *

Several hours later the Great Hall of Hogwarts was once again filled with students awaiting the beginning of the new term. Not unexpectedly the atmosphere was quite subdued compared to the norm, and while many still sported healing injuries for the most part everyone seemed to be adapting well enough.

Lillith shook her head at that as she poked her meal with her fork, looking around the gathered table it was fairly obvious many of her fellow students were exhibiting the early signs of PTSD, sadly most magicals refused to believe there wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed with a potion and a wand wave so it would likely remain untreated. Not helping the situation in the slightest the Headmaster confirmed that the Ministry had in fact ordered Dementors to protect the school grounds leaving a pervasive miasma of coldness and tension in the air at all times.

"I really hate politicians," she stated flatly, Hermione sighed in agreement while Blaise and Draco gave her open inquisitive looks,

"What brought that up?" Draco asked first, grunting Lilly pushed her half finished meal away and crossed her arms huffing before she replied,

"The Death Eater's break out of Azkaban, the Auror investigation is then called off while the ministry sends out the _demons_ that let them escape in the first place to find said escaped Death Eaters, said Death Eaters attacked a train full of children destroying it, now said demons are 'protecting' us all from said Death Eaters. I mean talk about circular logic, how did that saying go about sanity 'Mione?" The bushy haired Slytherin turned away from the small book she was scribbling in while her brow furrowed lightly,

"'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result,' or something along those lines, it's been misquoted often enough that I'm unsure who actually said it first, but regardless," she trailed off there with a shrug and returned to her writing that Lillith belatedly realized was a muggle notebook and pen.

"I see where you're going with that Lilly," Blaise stated with a contemplative look in his eyes, eventually he too pushed his meal away as he let out a disgusted sigh, "So the ministry is being run by insane, incompetent fools, what can we do about it?" As the quartet fell back into silence Tom spoke up for the first time since the crash,

_"Bide our time and try to survive this madhouse, and when you graduate we take over the world,"_ Lilly 'hmm'd' in return as she began twirling her mums wand idly, her nimble fingers spinning it about in a near blur as the hall was dismissed and she made her way to the dorms.

_"You're right of course my friend, but...I have a feeling things are going to get much worse before they get better,"_ Tom's reply was as always slightly sarcastic but completely honest,

_"That's life in a nutshell love, get some sleep, remember that we have to go see the Deputy Headmistress for that 'special dispensation' you and Hermione qualified for first thing,"_ taking the disembodied voices advice she had barely managed to change before she'd collapsed into her bed. She stared at the canopy roof for a few minutes before she saw a dim light peep through the split curtains, smiling at the fox staring at her inquisitively she patted the spot next to her as she scooted over.

"Couldn't sleep either eh?" Hermione shifted back into human form while shaking her head,

"No, there is...there is quite a lot on my mind and I'm not sure how to handle it, I'm afraid of persuing those thoughts because they could ruin everything, or make everything better...I just don't know." Scoffing lightly Lilly threw her arm over her eyes as she tiredly grumbled out,

"Well when you figure it out lemme know, I'll always be here for you Kitsune," Hermione was about to reply to that but found herself pausing in confusion,

"Kitsune?" Now half asleep Lilly turned to face her friend yawning,

"Yeah, spent most of the summer watching anime with Dora and Charlie, a kitsune is a magical Japanese fox, _you're_ a magical British fox, you still didn't have a Marauder name so I figured why not?" Hermione smiled brightly at that,

"So we're Quill and Kitsune then?" Now barely conscious her only response was a sighed 'yup' before the ravenette was snoring lightly, Hermione stared at her friend a few minutes before returning to her own bed picking up her diary as she made herself comfortable. Staring at it a few moments she eventually opened it to the most recent entry while quickly scribbling in a new line;

_September 2, 1993-Addendum: Why do feelings have to be so complicated? _

Slapping the notebook shut she cast every privacy spell she knew on it before jamming it under her pillow, a moment later Crookshanks made his presence known as he curled up beside her purring. Smiling she wrapped her arms around the half-kneazle and hoped beyond hope this was just hormones.

* * *

**Oh right, Kitsune, I figured why not, it'll play a part in where the girls go on holiday before fourth year anyhow so might as well set it up, plus I was really stymied on giving Hermione a Marauder name so blah, there we go. As always review!**

* * *

**Lyrics are from the song Le Bien qui fait mal**

Your pain  
The true pleasures  
Pass by torment  
Lay down your arms  
Give your tears

I feel  
Some violent pulses  
I feel like  
Slipping down  
If I don't know  
Where this scourge comes from  
I adore  
Having it in my skin  
Subjugated by crazy ideas  
Suddenly  
My urges fly away


	37. Introducing the Professors' Lupin

**This took altogether too much time to write but I'm glad I finally got it done and over with, hope you all enjoy and if you don't well...review regardless I don't mind creative criticism. I need to get some sleep now so you all take care, as always please review.**

* * *

Lillith's first day back at Hogwarts began on a sour note, when she'd gone to shower she'd found that most of her shampoos, conditioners, and various other beauty products had all been destroyed inside her trunk during the crash. Apparently the charm work was in fact _not_ rated for high speed impacts, who knew?

After a few scourgify charms she realized that the destroyed hair care items had managed to ruin most of her parchment on top of all her quills being crushed under her school books. Shifting the ruined potioneers kit aside she paused seeing something that vastly improved her mood. Taking the gaily wrapped gift with 'Happy Birthday Hermione' scrawled across it out amongst her various tomes she shook it gently and smiled to herself; at least the important things weren't ruined.

Grabbing one of her uniforms and silently thanking Aunt Andi for forcing her to pack her clothes and unmentionables in a separate trunk compartment she approached Tracey's bed hoping she would lend a hand.

"Hey Trac, you awake?" The mumbled reply of no, then the quiet sigh following it told her that her roommate was not pleased but willing to listen, as a bleary face appeared between the curtains Lilly threw her a winning smile. It didn't help, sighing herself she threw her thumb over her shoulder towards her still open trunk as she opined, "Look almost all my hair stuff got ruined in the wreck, I know we use the same brands so I was hoping I could borrow some until I can owl order replacements?"

Nodding in understanding (If there was one thing teenage Slytherins, male or female understood it was the need to look good at all times, or at least better then the Gryffindors) Tracey muttered her reply as she disappeared back into her bed.

"Go for it, put it back when done," thanking her fellow ravenette despite being aware she'd already passed back out Lilly completed her morning rituals around the time Hermione woke up. Leaving her friend to do her thing Lilly used the waiting time to clean out her trunk and much to her consternation over half of her stuff was just straight out ruined. Letting out an aggravated grunt she stood and kicked the trunk closed while falling on her bed with a huff, sensing her mistress's annoyance Nelle slithered over to her and curled around the teens splayed out arm.

"_You know what Nelle? If I had felt even a modicum of regret about killing all thossse blokesss yesterday I officially no longer care, thossse were desssigner productsss you can't just go to Diagon alley and grab them off the ssshelf! Ugh...bloody Death Eatersss!" _Nelle for her part just let out soothing hisses towards the frustrated girl since snakes really didn't get the whole skin and hair care thing. The effort was appreciated though, after a time Hermione wandered in from the shower already dressed as she pulled a comb through her wet tangled curls, wincing and suppressing the urge to swear the brunette plopped down beside her friend.

Crookshanks took this time to dart out from her bed and quickly fell beside her waiting impatiently to be showered with affection by his pet human, his deep purring proved that he had not had to wait long. Tossing her comb back to her bed she glanced to Lilly who was still scowling at the canopy ceiling, cocking her head to the side she tentatively asked,

"Knut for your thoughts Lilly?" Emerald eyes shot over to meet her gaze and the angry sharpness set on her pale face softened noticeably as she smiled,

"Morning 'Mione, and it's my trunk, most of my shite got ruined and while the school supplies aren't a real big deal I lost alot of my more expensive things and a few gifts I'd gotten over the years. Annoyed," Hermione hmm'd a bit at that as she stood from the bed and opened her side drawer to pull out a brush, finishing what she'd started she glanced at the full length mirror set in the wall between their beds and nodded with satisfaction.

"Well I'm a bit surprised but at the same time not, you didn't pack your trunk as a muggle would for a long trip did you?" Sitting up earning her an annoyed hiss from Nelle Lilly raised a single brow in question,

"Noooooo, I'm a witch who does witchy things, why wou-" she paused a moment then sighed as she smacked her forehead in exasperation, "Of course, you went for redundancy and padded the fragile stuff in your trunk didn't you?" Smirking knowingly she offered the younger teen a hand and pulled her off the bed,

"Quite, come along we'll go see the Deputy Headmistress then at breakfast you can write a list of everything you need replaced, maybe your dad has a few spares to save time?" Lilly nodded feeling slightly foolish for not thinking ahead like Hermione had but, well, what could be said, Lillith Potter was an incredibly smart witch, Hermione Granger just happened to be smarter.

"Right right, lets go," smiling Hermione squeezed her hand while Lilly yawned in her free one and was guided/dragged out of the dungeons by the far too awake bookworm. Reaching McGonagall's office in record time the two witches knocked on the door and waited patiently, a few seconds later it swung open and they faced off against the stern visage of the Deputy Headmistress.

"Ladies, good morning, if you would come in and close the door?" Doing so they approached her desk as she dropped her mask and grinned openly, "Lilly, Hermione, it does my heart good to see you two were unharmed, and while I'd love to catch up it will have to wait till a later date, so much to do and with all this extra chaos..." The young witches before her exchanged a glance then turned back to the Scotswoman,

"That's all right Aunt Minnie, I know how it goes so we'll put the socializing off till later, what's up?" Smiling fondly at her great-grandniece Minerva pulled out a pair of intricately carved wood boxes about the size of two decks of playing cards stacked atop each other, sliding one to each teen she explained the gifts.

"Normally when some ambitious youngster gets it in their head to take all the electives at once we would coach them into selecting a more reasonable curriculum by cutting a few of the classes from their schedule." Much to Lilly's amusement Hermione looked indignant at the very idea of cutting her workload, if truth were to be told so was Lilly, but if worse came to worse Tom could always tutor her while she slept. Sometimes it was pretty brilliant having one of your best friends living in your head,

Shaking her head lightly to refocus on her Aunt Lilly gave the aged Professor her undivided attention, "You two though are a special situation, academically you both are quite simply the best students we've had in a generation, so I contacted an old friend at the Department of Mysteries and he pulled some strings to get these loaned out." Lilly's natural curiosity overrode her natural distrust of the Ministry of Magic so as she accepted her box she cracked it open without hesitation, upon seeing its contents she took in a sharp intake of breath as she mumbled,

"Great googly moogly..." Eyes wide she reached a shaky hand into the box and wrapped her fingers around a fine gold chain, pulling it up she stared at the complex hourglass pendant that swung before her eyes like a pendulum, Hermione's actions mirrored her own. Greatly amused at the young witches antics Minerva smiled warmly,

"Indeed Lilly, these time-turners are a controlled item within not only the ministry but the entire magical world, while time _can_ fix most inconsistencies a traveler can cause it would be best to avoid issues all-together so follow the instructions in the boxes to their fullest."

The pair of Slytherins slid their time-turners chains around their necks as they listened to the older woman, both still staring at the devices with reverence, "Now my friend Saul Croaker, he's the Unspeakable I mentioned earlier, tells me that these are safe to go back anywhere from one to eight hours.

"Usually he lies to the people who sign them out and tells them its limit is five hours so they don't do anything too incredibly stupid, but seeing as he figured a pair of precocious genii would want to push the envelope he decided to give the full disclosure. So please, when you see the envelope don't even sneeze on it much less push it." Both students giggled lightly at that as they finally returned their full attention to their Professor, tapping her chin with her forefinger Lilly eventually asked what was really bothering her,

"Aunt Minnie, not that this isn't absolutely brilliant, but why would they assign a pair of teenage witches a device like this instead of using them to I don't know...catch criminals? Rig bets, you know cause chaos and work time for personal gain?" Minerva pursed her lips tightly at that question but before she could respond Hermione answered for her, although significantly less reprovingly then the young teens Great-Aunt would have.

"It's because of the Novikov self-consistency principle Lilly," said witch stared at her best friend a moment and responded with a rather intelligent,

"What?" Laughing lightly Hermione schooled her features and went into professor mode,

"The Novikov self-consistency principle was developed by a Russian physicist by the name of Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov in the mid eighties. It basically solves the paradoxes that spring up in time travel theory, in essence if you saw something happen, then it cannot _unhappen_. You can though alter events that led to the event, but it will happen in one form or another regardless."

Lilly stared at her friend with half lidded eyes and for the second time today 'Lilly Potter smart, Hermione Granger smarter' popped into her mind. Rubbing her temples slowly she eventually just shook her head and smiled,

"Right then, we'll pretend that didn't give me a headache and move on," Minerva smiled gently at that while Hermione scoffed,

"Really Lilly I thought you kept up on the muggle sciences," Lillith most certainly did _not_ pout as she crossed her arms and sniffed disdainfully,

"I keep up on the important things, nothing wrong with that," Hermione turned to face her completely as she shot back with,

"And time travel isn't important? Understanding how the flow of time works is necessary to delve into the deeper theories of relativity! Why-" Minerva cleared her throat causing Hermione to stop before she gathered any real steam, Lilly was rather proud of the fact that she managed to hide her relief.

"As interesting as this conversation is I do have much to get done and you two need to get to breakfast so Severus can give you your schedules, now run along and try not to get into too much trouble. I'll try to send an invite for tea later this week Lilly, Hermione can of course come along if she wishes." Both teenage witches nodded and rushed around the desk to give the stern woman a heartfelt hug, she didn't resist as she patted them on their backs then shooed them off.

As they skipped out of the office hand in hand far too excited to keep up standard Slytherin policies of appearance Lilly quickly thought out,

"_Tom were you ever given a time-turner?" _Sighing in annoyance he grumbled back with,

"_No love, I wasn't,"_ thinking that over a moment she quickly replied,

"_Well that's just a crime isn't it? What kind of chaos do you want to cause with it?"_ Tom thought it over awhile then grinned back viciously,

"_That muggle Russians law said whatever happens is meant to happen, nothing Hermione said proves that we can't place wagers on events we already know are going to happen. We have an invisibility cloak, polyjuice potion, and a trust vault, I say we go to the Goblins House of Vice and clean the little bastards out._" Lilly nodded in full agreement, if you could count on goblins for one thing it was to be consistently ruthless, so if they played up the foolish witch act they'd gladly accept any bets.

"_Do we really need the money though?"_ He paused at this then shrugged,

"_No, but it'll be funny,_" Lilly suppressed the urge to giggle, Morgana she loved her friends.

* * *

After getting her schedule from her dad Lilly and her friends (sans Hermione, but she did help edit) began writing out lists of what needed to be replaced after the crash, the moment Lilly was done Hedwig landed before her foot extended. Snorting lightly she worked her fingers through the snowy owls head feathers a moment before attaching the letter to the proffered claw and in a wink the majestic owl was gone as fast as she had appeared. Looking down at her schedule as she began walking to her first class Lilly couldn't help but grimace at her Monday workload, Care For Magical Creatures first period, followed by Divination, Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

While Draco and Blaise had both opted to take Runes and Care for creatures as their electives both ladies of their quartet had to keep mum about their massive workload and the time-turners that allowed it to happen, Draco took Lilly's odd reticence as an opening to poke a bit of fun at his favorite witch.

"Ah come on Lilly, why do you look so down? You actually _like_ that bumbling buffoon Hagrid, you should be looking forward to this class!" Lilly shot him a cold look but he held her gaze with his mercury grey eyes before they both began snickering and gently knocked their heads together in amusement,

"I _do_ like Hagrid, and don't call him a buffoon the bloke did try to shoot Voldemort with a crossbow, props for that yeah?" Both Blaise and Draco exchanged a look before shrugging and nodding, it wasn't a deed to scoff at for sure, "And it's not that I'm dreading the class its just that I'm worried about the amount of extra homework we'll have this year. I mean really this is going to be the first time in the past fifty years were every teaching position is handled by someone competent...that means extra work." Hermione grimaced at that as she ran a hand through her full hair, coming to a stop Draco pulled the door leading to the outer gardens of the castle open and she nodded her thanks with a smile before replying,

"I don't know, I've heard our Divination teacher is a bit...quirky..." As if by magic...which likely meant all kinds of illegal magic, the Weasley twins appeared beside the Silver Quartet,

"Ello our favoritist third years, delightfully dreary day to take a constitutional now isn't it?" The other twin, Lilly just decided to label him Gred, continued for Forge,

"Quite so, the Dementors and all, leaves a certain ambiance that one could live without doesn't it?" Forge nodded in agreement before stepped before the group stopping them in their tracks, crossing his arms he met Lilly's eyes as Gred moved to his side doing the same. Lilly felt like gulping a bit as she shifted under that scrutinizing gaze before both twins smiled widely,

"So you protected GinGin when you should have run away from those spiders screaming," Gred stated as Forge took the banter baton

"I would have, things were bloody scary," Gred nodded sagely as he continued,

"Me too brother of mine me too, and then not even a full year later you pull Likkle Ronikens from the Express wreck while his dear-"

"And infinitly more handsome,"

"brothers were locked in their cabin," their smiles dropped at this and they both bowed at once,

"Lillith Potter the House of Weasley owes you more then we can ever repay,"

"So please as a sort of...recompense take our advice," they exchanged one last look before stating as one,

"Drop divination, she's bloody barmy," bowing once again the tricksters of Hogwarts excused themselves and walked away, Blaise rubbed his temples a moment before shaking his head dramatically.

"I like those two, I really do, but I always gets a headache when they're through with us," Lilly nodded as she pulled out her mum's wand and cast a quick scanning charm on all four of them, she liked the boys but she wouldn't put it past them to plant something on them while they were being thanked. Scan coming up clean they eventually made their way down to Hagrid's hut and thankfully they wouldn't need the cursed 'Monster Book of Monsters' for the introduction class. Sure Lilly knew how to subdue the thing but she preferred it hit with a half dozen stunners regardless and Hagrid would probably frown on that.

The class was interesting at least, they got introduced to the basics of what they'd learn this term and were given instructions to dress to 'Get Dirty' next time, all the Slytherins shuddered at the thought but they'd do what was required after all. Divination proved Fred and George correct and it was only by Hermione's iron will that both witches hadn't stormed off in a huff. The mental and _drunk_ professor had explained how Lilly was going to tragically die in horrific and painful manners no less then three times in ten minutes and showed no sign of stopping her predictions before the period ended. When they'd left the sweltering tower Lilly was near tears and it took Hermione pulling her into an alcove and hugging her tightly for several minutes to get her to calm down.

Normally, she wouldn't let such things get to her but considering the simple fact that a prophecy was the reason she'd ended up orphaned, raped, and left for dead kind of put an emotional weight on the entire situation, thank the Morrigan for her best friend, Lilly didn't think she'd be consolable without her shoulder to cry on. After that rather low note what followed was a fairly standard Transfiguration class, lunch, and Potions but soon the real gem of the day approached, Defense Against the Dark Arts. As the Snakes and Badgers made themselves comfortable they took in the new decor, unlike with Quirrell who had a vampire fixation and Lockhart who had a...Lockhart fixation the dual professors had decided to go with a minimalists approach.

That was the nice way of saying they didn't bother decorating because they knew things were going to explode and they didn't want to fix it afterwords, Lilly honestly found it a bit funny. As they sat chatting waiting for class to start the office door soon flew open and Auntie Bellatrix strolled out with a rolling gait, Uncle Moony right behind her smirking slightly as they caught their nieces gaze and both winked in tandem.

"Hello my wonderful little miniature adults, _I_ am Professor Lupin and my Co-Professor for the term is my wonderful hubby who is also Professor Lupin," Remus smiled at that and bowed lightly as he interjected,

"Please just call me Professor Moony, it'll make things significantly less confusing for us all," Bella nodded happily at that as she clapped once loud enough to regain the classes attention,

"Quite right! You lot are all here for your third year of the Dark Arts, considering the...caliber... of your previous professors we've already decided there is going to be some remedial work involved but no worries, we'll be sure to keep it interesting!" Before she could continue Susan Bones tentatively raised her hand but noticeably relaxed when Bella smiled and pointed to her, clearing her throat she gathered her confidence a bit before she asked,

"Professor Lupin, you meant _Defense Against _the Dark Arts, didn't you?" Bellatrix stared at the redhead a moment before smiling faintly shooting her gaze to the side of the room while quickly coughing into her hand,

"Of course dear, obviously," Remus rolled his eyes as he gestured towards the class,

"Now while we are most definitely going to be doing more practical then theoretical work in this class-" Lilly, Blaise, and Draco all smirked a bit as Hermione looked a bit crestfallen at this announcement, "but I want to expand your knowledge and understanding of what it is you're trying to protect yourselves _from._ So with that I ask you all, what makes the Dark Arts, _The Dark Arts_?" Ernie Macmillan raised his hand and both professors nodded for him to speak,

"Well, the Dark Arts are what dark wizards use against light wizards, right?" Remus hummed a bit while Bellatrix shifted her hand back and forth in a 'kinda sorta' manner, catching her husbands eye his lip twitched once letting her know it was her game.

"Yes and no, you see the Dark Arts serve one purpose and one purpose only, to hurt other human beings, while your average light wizard _may_ be able to bring themselves to cast bonebreaker curses and cutting hexes they'll never be able to pull off truly dark spells simply because they do _not_ want their opponent to suffer enough to make it work." Remus nodded as he began pacing picking up after his wife's statement,

"Magic, in essence is all about visualization and will, if you cast a bonebreaker curse you have to imagine your targets bones shattering in graphic detail and you have to _want_ to cause them bodily harm but not to outright kill them, this makes that particular curse useful for aurors and the like." Bellatrix nodded as she began twirling her curved wand idly in her left hand as she gestured about with her right,

"True dark spells, ones used by Dark Witches and Wizards are incredibly effective in combat, in fact they're so effective that during times of great crisis the Ministry will actually authorize the legal use of them for self defense, the problem is this is largely useless. You see the the very _act_ of hurting a fellow human being works against our own innate tribal instincts, we are repulsed at the idea of hurting our fellow witches and wizards and in turn this causes some psychological trauma." Remus's pacing became slightly more agitated as he continued after Bella,

"While this is beyond some of you the crash course on human physiology is that when you're put under extreme stress your body produces chemicals called endorphin and adrenaline which essentially make you feel good, when you cast a spell fully visualizing and willing it to maim or kill your target your mind can't handle the trauma. So in turn your body releases endorphin's to take the edge off of what you have just done," Bellatrix sat on the Professors desk while crossing her legs in a ladylike fashion while sweeping her hand across the entire class.

"Essentially the end result is that when you hurt, maim, or kill someone with magic your body makes you feel good in order to cope; so what happens when you realize you get the most wonderful tingly feeling when you shatter a mans rib cage? What happens when you become hot and bothered when you boil a witches blood in her own body and cause her eyes to explode from the pressure? What happens when you experience the most mind blowing orgasm you've ever felt when you cast the killing curse on a child?" the room remained silent, no one saying a word, eventually Lilly raised her hand and all eyes turned to her,

"What happens, is you begin to hurt other people because you enjoy it, not because you need to do so," Remus nodded once as he regained the classes attention,

"And that is why the Dark Arts and those that practice them should never be underestimated, because while _you_ may hesitate for moral reasons, the feeling isn't reciprocated. As a caveat, if you ever run into someone who is able to practice the Dark Arts without suffering from those repercussions well...do yourself a favor and don't anger them, you'll live longer and happier that way." Smiling wanly he gestured towards the black board, "Now that the introduction is out of the way we'll start the semester off with something we're all being forced to deal with recently, the Dementor. Now, who can tell me exactly how many infants need to be sacrificed for the demon to be bound to its host body?"

* * *

**Bella and Remus are honestly a lot of fun to write, expect to see more of them soon, and yeah, not only does Lilly suck at divination she despises everything involved with it due to her past, she won't be nearly as forgiving with Trelawney as Harry was (that's saying something), as always, please review**


	38. Cute and Concerning

**Writers block, I actually wanted to get to the bogart but I'm a bit hung up on what Lilly's ultimate fear is, Harry was a fairly selfless guy so fearing fear itself made sense for him in a way. Lilly is selfish and damaged, as well as quite dangerous, whatever comes out of that cabinet has a fifty/fifty chance of being at the epicenter of ground zero so I have to put some more thought into this. **

**Anyway, the vote is thus far 225 or 36% for Hermione tailed by Tom 117 or 27%, so no matter what there is going to be the beginnings of relationships forming. This chapter is mildly fluffy and I wanted more content but as stated above, writers block, hope you lot enjoy what I've got thus far, as always please REVIEW!**

* * *

Cedric Diggory was for lack of a better word flummoxed when it came to his most recent DADA assignment, the Professors' Lupin had asked for a foot of parchment on the properties and weaknesses of Dementors and for the life of him he couldn't focus on the project. It wasn't lack of knowledge that stymied him, but rather the deep understanding of the monstrosities afforded to him by said professors over the past weeks that prevented his objectivity.

Leafing through his notes he could in short state one simple fact, Dementors were abominations to the Gods and Nature and there was very little to evidence to argue against this assessment. What he wanted to know was what genius decided to summon and bind two hundred of the demons to this realm and how much control the ministry actually had over them, because from what he was reading 'very little' may likely be the disturbing answer.

Sighing in resignation the Hufflepuff Prefect began jotting down a rough introduction when he was drawn from his thoughts by a pair of quiet voices that were steadily growing louder as they approached his table. While he'd chosen to stay in the library to research his essay rather then the 'Puffs chaotically boisterous common room he'd admit that any distraction would be acceptable at the moment; it didn't hurt at all that said distraction arrived in the form of a pair of pretty witches.

"Lillith, Hermione, a pleasure as always," the two Slytherins stopped before his table arms full of books, parchments and quills, he flashed them his brightest smile which caused them both to blush lightly but they kept their composure. They'd never know it but that was one of the reasons he was rather fond of them, they obviously found him attractive but kept their heads about themselves, unlike roughly ninety percent of the schools female population. Some might call him egotistical, he personally considered it being self aware enough to be able to tell when the people he was dealing with where superficial fan girls, a specimen best avoided at all costs to be sure.

"Hello Cedric," Lillith began, Hermione quickly following up with her own greeting before the raven haired teen continued, "Mind if we take a seat here? Library is getting rather packed." Looking about he was surprised to note that she was right, he'd really been lost in his thoughts it would seem,

"Of course of course, what are you two working on?" Spreading out their supplies the younger witches sighed as one as the exchanged glances before giving him their full attention; it really was interesting how often they played off each others body language, much like the Weasley twins did.

"Runes and Arithmacy, we've been studying them independently for years so everything we've been assigned the past two weeks has been at best remedial. It's really taking a lot of my willpower to just pay attention long enough to finish it," Lillith stated with a huff and a scowl. Hermione nodded slowly as she spoke up,

"While I am quite pleased with our professors the material is just not stimulating enough, couple that with the jokes that Divination and Muggle Studies have turned out to be and well...this year has not been as brilliant as I'd hoped it would be." Cedric snorted at that while rolling his eyes,

"Oh trust me I know what you mean when it comes to Divination and Muggle Studies, I ended up ditching both and taking Care and Runes instead, what has Trelawney been having you do, death, I mean _dream_ journals?" Frowning both girls nodded as one then Lillith perked up and smiled impishly, it was both cute and concerning and upon later reflection Cedric would decide that was actually a fairly accurate description for the young Heiress in general.

"I personally have been filling out cheesy romance movies in my journal, so far I'm halfway through the plot of 'Ghost', I'm playing the part of Patrick Swayze of course," Hermione huffed out a quiet 'Cheat' at this but said nothing more on the subject. Cedric for his part laughed loudly enough that he had to duck down and pray that Madam Pince didn't show up to display her ire, that woman was terrifying.

"So the fact that there is a scam artist psychic in that movie has nothing to do with your opinion of our esteemed Divination professor?" Her smile turned into a full blown grin and he got the distinct impression that her eyes were twinkling behind those awful blackout glasses.

"Just a fluke, obviously I'd _never_ be that openly disrespectful to a valued faculty member, I have an image to maintain," Hermione gave her friend a knowing glance as she smiled fondly.

"Of course Lilly dear, now please lets get this revision done so we can get some sleep, difficult or not all these courses are starting to wear on me and I don't want to waste time." Lillith tilted her head to the side staring at the brunette a moment while raising a single brow, how almost every Slytherin knew how to do that was beyond Cedric, maybe the hat taught them how to do it when they were sorted?

"'Mione, we literally have all the time in the world, how do you manage to _not_ get a proper nights sleep?" Cedric was admittedly a bit lost at the remark but Hermione seemed to understand her friend as her eyes widened in shock,

"Lilly you didn't! That's abusing the-" she cut herself off glancing over to Cedric a moment before dropping her voice to continue. "That's abusing the privilege we've been given," Lilly snorted at that and waved her friends concern off lightly,

"'Mione we've been given the ability to make the space time continuum our bitch I-" now Hermione cut _Lilly_ off as she threw out an admonishing,

"Language Lilly," Lillith for her part didn't miss a beat as she apologized quickly,

"Sorry 'Mione, and as I was saying why not use it to slip out of sight for a few hours for a kip here and there? Really it doesn't hurt anyone, I just assumed you were doing it too or I'd have brought it up earlier." Worrying her lip Hermione stared down at the table for well over a minute before nodding slowly,

"I suppose you're right, it really doesn't hurt anyone does it, and now that I think about it we could get some extra time in for studying as well," Lillith nodded enthusiastically at this admission obviously pleased that she'd made her point and it had stuck. While completely lost as to what they were being so secretive about Cedric was happy they'd gotten through their minor argument with little fanfare, it was a Hufflepuff thing.

Not being a nosy person by nature he let their secrets be as he began busying himself with his essay and found that having the witches banter in the background actually helped him focus on his work, it allowed him to be analytical about the assignment and he'd thank the pair for it later. Honestly anything was better then dwelling on the fact that three infants and one adult host were sacrificed for every Dementor bound to this plane of existence, sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss.

* * *

It had been a few days since Hermione had decided to take Lillith's suggestion to heart and took full advantage of her time-turner, much to her chagrin the end result had been most satisfactory. Not only was she getting the sleep she needed but with proper timing the two overachieving witches managed to live through each day twice filling the extra hours with practice and studying. Lilly had even taken to dragging Hermione to the Room of Requirement to teach her how to play guitar even though Hermione felt that was a loosing battle but kept it to herself; honestly she'd always had more luck with the piano.

Casting a quick tempus spell she realized that she was going to in fact be late for said practice if she didn't hurry up, not for the first time she wished the endlessly useful room wasn't on the opposite end of the castle from her dorms. Coming to a stop before the door she knocked twice, paused, then knocked four times in quick succession, after a moment it unlocked and swung open,

"Sorry I'm late Lilly, I had to drop my Charms essay off and well..." she trailed off as she realized the room resembled her dads rec room back home, including the full bar in all its brassy glory and the old Pac-Man machine with a faulty coin slot in the corner. In the center of the room was the round oak table he'd play poker at with his mates but rather then a deck of cards and a pile of colored chips there was a handful of brightly wrapped gifts sitting atop it. Beside these was a white cake with fourteen candles sticking out at odd angles as well as a small sign that read 'Happy Birthday;' Hermione felt her throat tighten as she saw her best friend seated at the table sleeping soundly with her head resting in her arms. "Oh my..." stirring Lilly lifted her head and blinked a bit, seeing Hermione she perked up and stood from her seat.

"Hermione! Happy Birthday!" Feeling dumbstruck she dropped her schoolbag on the floor and slowly walked towards the grinning witch who was busying herself with putting on one of those ridiculous cheap paper party hats, mission accomplished she rushed over to the birthday girl and placed one atop her bushy mane careful not to snap the elastic string as she slid it under her chin.

"Lilly," she finally managed to get out, "What, what's this all about?" Still smiling she grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her to the table while pulling a chair out, guiding her into it Lilly then plopped into her own seat and scooted it next to her still shocked friend.

"You see I realized that I've been a rather bad friend these past few years," Hermione snapped her head to face Lilly and locked gazes with those all knowing emeralds as she was about to offer a rebuttal, but Lilly would have none of that. "No, really, I have been, see Draco and Blaise, their families don't make big deals out of birthdays so it was always an out of sight, out of mind thing for me, and as for myself my birthday falls in July so really unless I invite people over no one really makes a deal out of it. Then it hit me, you've spent the past two, going on three years at Hogwarts away from your family and you've obviously missed out on the celebrations, didn't help that you didn't tell me about it but still...this one was on me."

At this she looked rather sheepish as she glanced away from Hermione's now slightly watery eyes, turning back she offered what she assumed was a lame smile, "I am sorry about that, as much as I try I am just human, but I figured if you can't be home with your family I can at least bring home to you. I err...haven't been in your parents basement since before first year so I hope it looks similar," not getting a response from the still wide eyed witch Lilly looked about pensively before brightening as she gestured towards the cake.

Wand dropping into her hand she flicked her wrist expertly and the candles all lit at once, turning she was about to grin again when she realized there were tears running down Hermione's face, worrying her lip and feeling a slight sense of panic she began stuttering. "I...umm...I'm sorry did...did I do something wrong?" Taking in a heavy breath Hermione shook her head slowly,

"Lilly, I never had friends growing up, none, the only people that have ever cared about my birthday were my mum and dad, and they saw how depressed I would get not having anyone to invite over. They'd buy me presents obviously, but there was no celebration, I saw no point in it...this...this is the first time someone who wasn't _obligated_ to care about my birthday has, I'm...just a bit overwhelmed." Blinking at this admission Lilly immediately felt the guilt of not doing this earlier in their friendship, seeming to sense her shame Hermione grasped the side of Lilly's head to force her to meet her eyes. "None of that, what's done is done, what matters is now," smiling lightly Lilly reached over and wiped the tears off her friends face with her sleeve,

"So...these are happy tears?" Letting out a sobbing laugh she nodded quickly nearly dislodging her party hat in the process,

"These are very happy tears, yes," smiling gently Lilly grabbed the cake and slid it before Hermione careful not to let the half melted candles to burn out.

"Well I'm glad to be the one to break a rather horrid track record for you, now I know how you get about sugar with your parents being professional torturers and all," Hermione scoffed at that but her smile betrayed her amusement, "So I dug around for a low sugar recipe, oddly enough its pretty good." Lilly's face fell for a moment as she looked about in embarrassment, "Well, everything after the first cake turned out pretty good, we won't talk about my initial attempt, was never really one for baking." At that Hermione perked up a bit,

"You made this?" Lilly nodded with some honest enthusiasm,

"Of course, I had to wing it a bit to make it both dentist friendly and edible so it had to be me, someone else could have gotten it wrong, now blow out your candles before they burn the thing." Hermione knew she was joking but they were getting awfully low, taking in a breath she blew out the candles sending a wave of smoke into the air, "What did you wish for?"

It was such an innocent question, and one she did not want to answer in the slightest, but innocent regardless; luckily she was saved from a response by the questioner herself as she began cutting the cake. "Never mind, doesn't come true if you share it, or is that shooting stars? Or wishes in general? Huh...maybe I can cause Trelawney to have an aneurysm by making her think about that one," her wistful smile made it fairly obvious she wasn't fully joking but Hermione was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice.

Sliding a slice of cake before her Hermione absently took a bite of it and paused, strawberry with cream icing, turning to Lilly who was happily scarfing her own slice down it took her a moment to realize she was being stared at. Mouth full and not being a slob she simply raised her brows in question,

"How did you know what my favorite cake was? It isn't one of those things that comes up often you know," swallowing quickly Lilly coughed a bit before responding,

"Easy, I owled Aunt Andromeda to call your mum and ask, don't forget she and Uncle Ted are friends with your parents so I have my ways," smiling Hermione turned back to her cake but only managed to finish about two thirds of it but that didn't seem to offend Lilly at all. Grinning she pushed the cake aside and dropped a handful of gifts before the brunette, "Now I didn't have our boys here because I'm really not ready to share our Bat Cave with them yet so they'll give you their presents later. These are from myself, Dora, and Padfoot, Daddy is planning on getting you a gift certificate to Flourish and Blotts but he's been incredibly busy lately, train wreck, Death Eaters, Hufflepuffs being allowed in his classroom, you know the drill." Hermione laughed at that as she nodded in agreement, nearly bursting with excitement Lilly pushed her present in to her friends hands encouraging her to open it.

Hermione contemplated torturing her a bit by slowly and carefully unwrapping the gift but thought better of it, tearing the brightly colored paper off she found a blank box in her hands, flipping it open her eyes widened slightly upon seeing its contents. Turning to her friend she phrased her question carefully,

"There's a reason you gave this to me knowing how electronics get around magic, what did you do to it?" Not taking any offense since she was fully expecting this reaction Lilly hopped up and began pacing as she started her explanation.

"Over the summer I got bored, like uber bored, so bored that I can't even begin to describe it, but most of the adults in my life have jobs and responsibilities so they really couldn't keep me occupied all the time so I ended up watching a bunch of Japanese cartoons at my sisters place. Well I realized that the TV and VCR had to have some sort of protection being in a magical home right? Well I cracked it open and found an entire rune schematic drawn on the inside cover and not only did this thing shield it from magic, it _powered_ it, when I confronted Dora about it she admitted that an exchange student had done the work for her during her fifth year."

Looking slightly smug she continued her monologue as her friend patiently listened, "So anyway I copied it and took it to Auntie Bella when she wasn't busy teaching Sally how to commit war crimes and we refined it to a more streamlined arrangement, what you have there is our first functioning prototype." Smiling Hermione lifted the Sony Walkman from the box and ran her fingers across the rune engraved purple plastic,

"Thank you Lilly, I love it," beaming she pushed the other two gifts forward and after opening them Hermione was now the proud owner of over two dozen audio cassettes featuring artists across several genres. Blushing a bit Lilly fished into her pocket and pulled out one last gift wrapped in plain brown paper dropping it in Hermione's lap, picking it up she unwrapped it and looked slightly confused, "Who's this from?" Lilly sighed in exasperation while shaking her head,

"Tom, he insisted I get you some proper listening material and when a bloke lives in your head he can make himself a fair menace if you ignore him," Hermione stared at her blankly before breaking out into riotous laughter. Sides hurting she eventually got herself under control long enough to state a phrase that had never been uttered before and probably would never be spoken hence,

"Are you telling me, that the shade of Lord Voldemort made you buy your muggle-born friend 'Queens Greatest Hits'?" Covering her face with her palm Lilly nodded slowly causing Hermione to break into another fit of laughter, the entire time Lilly smiled in satisfaction, today was a huge success. As the day progressed the two of them discussed rune warding other electronic devices and the market for them, Lilly quite emphatically explained that game systems were her next pet project and Hermione actually agreed, she rather missed Tetris after all.

Eventually the pair had packed up Hermione's birthday loot and made their way back down to the dungeons, on the way they were intercepted by Sally-Anne and Neville who both wished the resident bookworm a happy birthday and each promised her a butterbeer on their first Hogsmeade visit. After arriving in the dungeons Blaise and Draco gifted her with a three hundred year old copy of 'Hogwarts a History,' while stating she didn't want to know where they got it, being a proper Slytherin she took their words to heart.

As the night grew later and Hermione lay in bed listening to her new Walkman she kept hitting rewind listening to the same song over and over again, turning her head to look over at Lilly's sleeping form as she was being serenaded by Freddy Mercury's rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody she calmly reflected on her earlier wish. Heart aching she turned away and stared back up at her beds canopy as she let out a shuddering breath,

"I wish I knew if you loved me the way I love you," the very confused witch muttered to herself.

* * *

**So yeah, I thought the idea of Tom demanding Hermione receive 'proper' music was amusing, hope you all enjoyed and no I'm not going to be torturing the poor girl much longer, while Lilly's boggart is up in the air...Hermione's is not.**


	39. Unfounded Fears

**A very special shout out to Bearmauls, Philosophize, and Roselia Rose for helping me figure out how to handle the boggart and Lilly's relationship with Hermione. The biggy on the boggart was that with Tom in her head shouldn't the boggart react to his fears as well, which was something Philosophize pointed out as a major issue in the later plot. After a bit of research I found out Tom Riddle's boggart was his own dead body, so it fits nicely with what Lilly experiences. **

* * *

_**Also shout outs to two Fem!Harry stories I'm currently reading and thoroughly enjoying:**_

_**Potter vs Paradox by Belial666 and **_

_**Gryffindor's Girl by Whitewolf333. **_

_**Both are well written with unique plots which lets be honest here are a bit rare to come by these days, please give them a read and a review!**_

* * *

Albus Dumbledore paced about his office brows furrowed in concentration as he reviewed what he knew; while his weapon against Tom Riddle's misguided aspirations had not grown into the girl he had originally planned for she at least appeared to be a polite and decent person capable of understanding love. Which was good considering that _was_ her primary strength against the disembodied Dark Lord and what Albus's careful machinations had been banking on since that fateful night nearly twelve years ago.

Unfortunately though after the reports he'd received in regards to Miss Potters willingness to kill those who had strayed from the light the Headmaster was suffering a crisis of faith; young Lillith acted nothing like the self sacrificing martyr he needed her to be to finally put an end to Tom's insanity once and for all. In all actuality she had rather uncomfortably reminded him of Tom on more then one occasion although most of her actions could be easily explained away, thus causing Albus to question the soundness of his plan to observe her growth from afar. With that thought he glanced to the half dozen silver instruments constantly monitoring her health and the strength of the blood wards protecting her Aunt's home, seeing everything was in order he approached his pensieve cabinet for the third time today.

Staring down into the glowing silver strands floating about the shallow runic bowl he allowed himself to be drawn in to review the little inconsistencies in young Lillith's behavior, after a few hours he pulled away and fell into his chair sagging into its deep cushioning. Reaching for a lemon drop he popped it in his mouth while stroking Fawkes' feathered head earning a soft trill from his longtime friend,

"A charismatic parselmouth who is constantly twirling about her wand in an unconscious exercise to improve her dexterity, so like Tom in this regard yet..." Scowling he glanced out his darkened window while slowly shaking his head, "She draws followers to herself without effort, the few enemies she's acquired make a concerted effort to avoid her but those drawn to her are protected with a viciousness of a mother dragon."

_That_ was one of the many things that gave him hope for the young Heiress, she didn't collect followers to fawn over her, she formed lasting bonds of friendship and became viciously protective of those who earned her trust. Even so the reports he had received from his many eyes and ears of the castle implied she indulged in the darker magics to ensure the safety of those she cared about, yet he had no proof one way or the other.

Contrary to what many may believe he only rarely indulged in legilimency when it came to his charges, not only was it illegal to cast on a minor but it could cause lasting damage to a young mind after repeated use, passive usage was for the best unless it served the Greater Good. At the moment he only had suspicions and thus could not justify digging deeper, so he needed another method to test if young Lillith was in fact going dark.

Sighing he decided to busy himself with shuffling through the stacks of back logged paperwork he'd largely been ignoring for the past few weeks, most of it was just administrative updates although there was an occasional bit of good news. Albus allowed a moments sense of satisfaction to take hold upon seeing that the Hogwarts Express was now going to be repaired, maintained, and staffed by the Ministry; this was pleasing to the old man, perhaps he could use the freed funds to finally reinstate 'Introduction to the Wizarding World' for the muggle-born students?

Nodding to himself as he picked up one of the last bits of parchment he quickly read it and paused a moment, he leaned back into the chair and began stroking his beard while he contemplated this new bit of information. After a time he came to a decision and called for a house elf to fetch the Professors' Lupin in so long as they were still in the castle; he honestly tried to avoid the pair finding Bellatrix a bit much to take but this plan could give him the peace of mind he needed.

At roughly 9 o'clock there was a polite knock at his door, smiling he called out "Please do come in my dear Professors." Remus looked to be on guard and oddly relaxed all at once as his golden gaze swept across the room, his hand unconsciously stroking the short beard that covered the unfortunate scars marring his face. Bellatrix as always had a somewhat manic gleam in her eyes as a half smirk occasionally curled up her lips, both of the Lupins nodded to him in respect as they accepted their offered seats.

"You're lucky you caught us Headmaster, we were just about to floo home for the evening," smiling congenially the old man handed over Filch's tersely written letter as he replied to his former student.

"At my age you tend to look at it less as luck and more of an act of happenstance, regardless as our Defense professors for this year I thought I'd bring a potential teachers aid to your attention." Brows raising in unison the couple accepted the parchment and after reading it they exchanged a thoughtful look, Bellatrix twirled a bit of her long hair around her fingers as she leaned back in her seat giving an airy response.

"Well," she began, "learning how to fend off a boggart would definitely benefit the miniature adults, but I'm not sure a classroom setting is the best venue to force children that just survived a terrorist attack to show off their greatest fears." Bellatrix Lupin was many things but first and foremost she was a scientist, and you did _not_ run an experiment in an uncontrolled environment; that method led to...messy results, usually ending up in mop and bucket detail for one of her werezombies. Remus nodded slowly in agreement but looked contemplative none the less,

"While I agree with Bella that it would be almost criminally negligent to showcase their deepest fears to their classmates perhaps we could have a some sort of privacy screen set up? Or have pairs partner up so they aren't alone when the boggart does what it does...hmm..." Albus suppressed the urge to grin, he didn't particularly care _how_ the confrontation occurred just that it did and he could observe it, Bellatrix 'hmm'd' while nodding slowly at her husband.

"I suppose, and really they need to learn how to counter the bloody things so it would be for the best...I suggest we leave the first years out of this though, something tells me ragged cloaked men and crashed trains are going to be playing center stage for them." After a half hour of hammering out the details the Lupins agreed on a course of action and excused themselves for the night, long after they left Albus continued to stare off into the distance lost in thought. Eventually he turned back to Fawkes and quietly asked,

"Am I doing what is right old friend, or simply what I find easy in my old age?" The mystical bird looked at his long time friend with a hint of sorrow and trilled sadly as he hopped onto the Headmasters shoulder and curled around his neck fondly. Sighing Albus began stroking the creatures back as he fell deeper into the cushioning, "Yes...I am unsure as well..."

* * *

Susan Bones turned the corner leading to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as she chattered amiably with her best friend Hannah and soon found herself pausing at the large group of students waiting at the door. The gathered Slytherins were quietly talking amongst themselves and at large ignored the approaching 'Puffs, that is aside from Lilly Potter and her friends.

"Hello Lilly, Hermione, Draco, Blaise, what's going on why are we waiting in the hall?" Pursing her lips lightly the slightly shorter witch was about to respond when Draco drawled out his reply,

"Doors locked, there's a note telling us to wait until they're ready so here we are," Susan sighed at that and nodded lightly but before she could reply the door in question unlocked with a heavy clunk and began swinging open. Taking the hint the gathered students pushed their way into the threshold and as a group came to a stop as they realized that all the desks were missing.

"'Ello my lovelies today we have an _extra_ special treat!" As the perpetually amused voice of Professor Lupin rang through the air Susan noticed Lilly, Hermione, and Draco tensing up as their eyes widened in obvious fear. Oh...that didn't bode well, as the elegant woman walked into the center of the room Professor Moony exited the office and met her half way, he glanced towards a dusty looking old wardrobe as he spoke.

"Today we're going to learn the _Riddikulus_ charm, can anyone tell me what this particular spell is used for?" Much to Susan's lack of surprise both Hermione and Lillith's arms shot up before all others, smiling the handsome man gestured towards Hermione who quickly answered.

"Riddikulus is the spoken element to the spell used to banish boggarts, since they are essentially none living entities it is the only known way to corral the creatures and keep them secured," Professor Moony's smile widened as he nodded in approval.

"Quite right dear, five points to Slytherin, now are there any other ways to counter the boggart?" Lilly shot her hand up once again causing the Professor to sigh while rolling his eyes, "Other then catching it on fire or blowing it up?" Lilly's hand dropped causing a chuckle to ripple through the room, nodding once again he gestured to his wife who stepped forward and the class sobered quickly realizing she was not smiling as usual.

"A boggart will take on the form of your greatest fear, it is not omnipotent but it _is_ clever, and to add to the dangers the beast's forms are completely dependent on the magical strength of those it confronts. That's more or less why muggles experience what amounts to silly little ghost stories when they encounter one in the wild, they have no magic to feed the beast thus it's resigned to simply making a nuisance of itself." Professor Moony then gestured towards the wardrobe as he spoke up,

"What we're going to do today is teach you lot on how to counter this particular annoyance but we're going to give you all the option of performing the spell behind a privacy curtain if you so desire. While it _is_ an important spell to learn seeing as how it is in your O.W.L exams we personally find it a bit twisted to advertise your greatest fears to the school at large, so all you have to do is ask and we'll allow you and a partner to confront the creature in private."

There were murmurs of approval all around that Susan gladly added to; while she personally didn't think she had much to fear considering her Auntie was one of the scariest witches in the past century she more then likely had a few fellow students who had embarrassing fears they would rather not share.

Professor Moony then flashed the class with a charming pearly white smile that had nearly every female in attendance (including his wife) sigh as he shuffled to the side of the room turning on a phonograph; Susan found a sort of irony in the fact that Lockhart would have killed for that sort of reaction from his students. Smirking knowingly he dropped the needle to the spinning record and spun dramatically as Benny Goodman's 'Sing Sing Sing' began playing,

"Let us begin, who wants to go first?" A line formed and as chance would have it Hannah ended up in the front of the queue, the small blonde approached the wardrobe and Susan had to resist the urge to walk beside her best friend as the cabinets door creaked open. A moment later a rather horrifying cackling clown with sharp serrated yellow teeth began prowling towards the girl with a manic gleam in his eyes as drool fell from his mouth.

The class was reminded that Hannah had helped subdue a mountain troll at the age of eleven when rather than whimpering and running away her back went ramrod straight as she deftly cut the air with her wand and confidently stated,

"Riddikulus!" The clown stopped midstride and inflated like a balloon, soon it began bobbing along the floor and as the class broke down into laughter it slipped back into the safety of the wardrobe. Professor Lupin stepped forward and gripped a grinning Hannah's shoulders as she cheerfully called out,

"Excellent Miss Abbott! Perfectly performed and without any hesitation!" Dropping her voice so only the teen in question could hear she quickly added, "And don't be ashamed of your fear, clowns are bloody terrifying." Smiling Hannah skipped to the side of the room and awaited her classmates, as the music played the children cycled through without any real hiccups, in an odd twist knowing they _had_ the option of privacy seemed to encourage them not to ask for it.

Draco Malfoy approached the center of the room and when the boggart slithered out of its abode it took the form of his father, Lucius stared down at his paler then normal son sneering in disgust,

"Pathetic, you'll never amount to anything foolish boy, you are a disgrace to the name of Malfoy and you'll never amount to anything! I am just glad your grandfather is dead so he doesn't have to suffer the indignity of watching your disgraceful dalliance with a half-blood chit wh-" the boggart had no chance to finish as Draco very coldly seethed out the Riddikulus charm. Lucius Malfoy turned into a blonde chimpanzee that slapped its hands together comically a few times and the class's reaction had it run away as it had previously, Draco shakily dropped his wand hand to his side and turned to leave catching Lilly's eye.

Susan smirked knowingly as the pair seemed to exchange words without saying anything, eventually breaking his gaze he leaned against the wall and soon looked to be lost in thought. As the line grew shorter she realized that Hermione and Lilly seemed to be having a rather animated argument, one in which the bookworm appeared to be worried while the Heiress looked irritated. Not wanting to be rude but honestly quite curious Susan surreptitiously listened in to their conversation,

"-nd I'm telling you 'Mione it's fine, I'm not at all afraid of whatever that thing wishes to change itself into and I don't want to look weak in front of our classmates." Susan could only see the back of Hermione's head but she would bet galleons to knuts that she was worrying her lip as she let out a exasperated sigh,

"Lilly you know I respect your strength but you're being stubborn here, you've experienced and survived things that would have killed lesser witches, do you really want to subject our friends to Voldemort? To acromantulas? To...the Dursleys?" Lilly stiffened and whipped her head to the side with a slightly betrayed look on her face,

"That was a low blow Hermione," she seethed at the witch in question who just shook her head slowly,

"It's the truth Lilly, you know it," letting out a frustrated growl she eventually huffed while crossing her arms and nodded once in agreement,

"Be my partner?" Hermione turned to her and gave the younger witch a fond smile,

"Always," as her turn came up she raised her hand to gain the professors' attention, "Ma'am we'd like the privacy screen please?" Susan was intrigued by the knowing looks the two teachers gave the young Slytherin, they quickly cast spells that hung a large canvas divider between the two friends and the rest of the class; Susan sighed in frustration, just when things were getting interesting too.

"Can they hear us?" Lilly asked in an irritated tone, Moony shook his head slowly as he replied in a firm yet not unkind tone,

"No Lilly dear they cannot, and I'm going to guess Hermione is the one who goaded you into accepting this?" Getting a curt nod in return he smiled as he addressed the bushy haired witch, "Thank you young lady, we all know how headstrong she can get when she's trying to prove herself." Lilly removed her blackout glasses and slowly rubbed her eyes while muttering to herself, Hermione accepted the praise but didn't respond afraid of further alienating her best friend.

"I'm only looking out for her best interests, even if she doesn't want me to," Lilly's eyes swiveled to meet her gaze and after staring at each other a few seconds she broke the stare down while throwing her a wry half smirk.

"You always do 'Mione, now lets just get this over with shall we?" Hermione nodded and took in a deep breath as she approached the wardrobe, it shook a few times and after a moment the doors swung open and out stepped a perfect copy of Lillith Potter; the witch in question wasn't quite sure how to take this revelation but one look at her friend told her this wasn't going to be good. Smirking the boggart Lilly sauntered towards a now pale Hermione and soon came to a stop before her, cocking a hip to the side while resting a hand on it the boggart sneered in a manner that better belonged on her dad.

"You ugly, stupid mudblood, did you actually think I cared about you? You are _nothing_, a simple amusement, hell I only keep you around to make myself look better with your disgusting teeth, horrible hair, and your know it all attitude. You thought everything was going to change when you came to Hogwarts, that the bullying, teasing, and loneliness would end but you're no better off here then you were there," Hermione was quivering now as her wand fell limply from her hand.

Still sneering the boggart continued unabated "How could you possibly think I give a shit about you much less return the feelings you have for me? Now why don't you just do what a proper little Mudblood should and _die_." The professors stood in shocked silence as Hermione began whimpering, before the adults could make a move Lilly stepped before her friend and pulled her in a tight hug, after a moment it was shakily returned as she was gently swayed back in forth.

"Mione, 'Mione! Listen it isn't real that isn't me you're my best friend and I'd never say anything like that! You're my partner in crime the one who shares all my secrets, you aren't ugly, you aren't alone, and you are _not a _mudblood." Hermione clutched onto Lilly but never broke eye contact with the boggart, she stiffened in shock as it's focus switched from her to the friend comforting her, that's when the rooms temperature dropped several degrees.

* * *

Lilly held Hermione tightly to herself, she'd nearly done the same for Draco but he'd managed to troop his way through his greatest fear but her best friend had frozen up and it was her job to keep her grounded. What she _hadn't_ planned on was the boggart taking interest in her, as she gently swayed Hermione back and forth Lilly felt a chill cross her spine, slowly releasing her best friend from her death grip hug she turned to face a cupboard she hadn't seen in years. Gasping her lips began to tremble as the triangular door swung open and she saw what laid in wait, in all honesty she didn't know whether to vomit, run away, or burn everything in front of her, regardless in the end all she could do was watch.

The sobbing form hidden in the cupboard beneath the stairs of 4 Privet Drive curled in on herself, long matted black hair covered the face of the girl who weakly pulled against the wall mounted shackles lashed around her wrists; the too tight bonds leaking blood and puss that ran down her arms and seeped into her tattered night gown. The shuddering form was racked with pain as the space between her broken legs leaked blood and ...other fluids, she lifted her head and met Lilly's horrified gaze with dull, dead green eyes, the perfect image of absolute powerlessness.

Lilly's reaction was probably not what the boggart had been banking on, the young witches eyes ignited as rage boiled through her slight form, the only thing keeping her from wiping this...thing from existence was the light squeeze of the small hand that had landed on her shoulder. Trembling with barely bridled anger her words seethed out with all the warmth of an ice elemental,

"No...I...I'm not her...she died with the Dursleys...I am not weak...no you bastard...I **_will_ **be stronger then all others, I will never be that girl again, I'll never be powerless again!" Raising her wand to cast the Riddikulus charm she froze as the boggart changed once again and suddenly it felt like something was drilling into her skull and it took all her willpower to stay standing, soon images began appearing in her minds eye that she couldn't control.

Tom crumpled on the floor of a child's bedroom, Draco laying broken and dead at the bottom of a shaft, Blaise laying gutted in a forest, her dad executed by Voldemort, Aunt Minnie beheaded on a headsmen block, Auntie Bella's dismembered form surrounded by hundreds of dead aurors. On and on and on the images ran through her mind, Moony, Padfoot, 'Dora, Aunt Andi and Cissy, Uncle Lucius and Ted, Sally-Anne, Neville; it came to a screeching halt as she saw Hermione laying in the center of a runic array, her blood draining into the carved lines in the ancient stone, dead gaze seeing nothing.

Eyes refocusing on the real world what stood before her was an image of terrible beauty, a tall woman with long white hair that glowed like spun moonlight, her obsidian skin doted with glowing points that her inner astronomer realized were constellations; and the eyes, oh the eyes glowed an all encompassing killing curse green. Tilting her head to the side exposing her long pointed ears the Fae creature then smiled showcasing sharp crystalline teeth, taking a step forward her shimmering silver skirts shifted slightly as she leaned down coming nose to nose with the terrified witch.

"Power? Oh my dear this is what your pursuit of power will grant you, you will be the greatest, most terrible sorceress since Morgana and all it will cost you is everyone you ever loved, a fair trade no?" Lilly could only stare in horror as tears ran down her cheeks, as the Fae creature...no...her older self began cackling in glee she managed to raise her wand and stutter out,

"Ri-ri-RIDDIKULUS!" The boggart began crying out as steam boiled about her and she slid into the floor melting into a puddle, after a moment the boggart rushed back into it's wardrobe, still shaken she just stood there as Auntie Bella and Uncle Moony walked up to her pulling their niece into a tight hug.

"Wizard of Oz?" Remus asked in a light tone, she nodded quickly as he patted her back, Bellatrix released her hug and stared into the girls eyes a moment before squeezing her shoulders tightly,

"Why don't you and Hermione take the rest of class off all right? I'll write you a note so no one gives you any troubles," both girls nodded quickly and accepted the bit of parchment, turning around Bellatrix cancelled the privacy screen and addressed her waiting class. "I do hope one of you lot can beat that, now Mister Macmillan I do believe it's your turn." As the girls turned to leave no one noticed the slight distortion in the corner follow them out of the room and walk back to the Headmasters office, after Albus passed the gargoyle and made his way to his chair he sat down and smiled happily.

While he'd missed what young Miss Potters initial boggart had been due to it's impromptu appearance during Miss Grangers attempt it was impossible to miss the followup; she was afraid of becoming dark, afraid of power, and afraid to sacrifice others for it. All in all the Greatest Wizard of the Age felt today had gone perfectly according to plan and that his worries had been grossly misplaced. In the following years he would learn how premature his thoughts of victory truly were and would lament not following the two young witches to their final destination, it would have saved him a world of headaches if he had just kept them apart.

* * *

As the two best friends wandered the halls lost in thought they eventually found themselves before the Room of Requirement, Lilly paced before it thrice and soon a wood door with a brass handle appeared, opening it she entered and was soon followed by Hermione who nearly tripped over herself when she saw what awaited them. As far as the eye could see it was cloudless open skies and rocky hills doted with evergreens, cutting through it all was a large bubbling river; Lilly approached the river and sat on a bench facing the horizon, taking a seat next to her they sat in comfortable silence for a time.

"Did you see anything other then the Fae creature?" Lilly eventually asked with a tired sigh, Hermione turned to her while shaking her head in the negative,

"No you seemed to freeze up for about thirty seconds and that's when it finally stuck to a form, did...did you want to talk about it?" Lilly ran her hands through her hair then snorted out a humorless laugh,

"No, not really...how about you? Was that really what you feared the most? Me not wanting to be your friend?" Hermione paused and much to Lilly's surprise blushed a bit,

"Is it so hard to believe Lilly? You know I told you I didn't have any friends before you, the idea of losing that is just, well..." Lilly dropped her head to Hermione's shoulder while closing her eyes,

"More to it then that bookworm, I don't know if you really noticed but jerk boggart me seemed to imply there was more then just being friendless," they both remained silent before Hermione finally gave in.

"Before Hogwarts I was called a beaver toothed bint, a bushy haired monster, a teachers pet, know it all, and the entire time they wanted to use me to help with their classwork. If I got angry and stood up for myself they'd destroy my things, a couple of the older girls even hit me if I threatened to tell a teacher," unbeknownst to Hermione her friend was silently adding most of her former classmates to a special list, blissfully unaware of this she continued. "Through it all I knew there was something different about me, something that made me special, then I got my letter, and met you."

Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably a bit as she tried to find the right words, "I, really don't know how else to put it, ever since I met you you've been there for me, bringing me along on misadventures, getting me special training, all the while involving me with your plots for world domination." She laughed at the last bit rolling her eyes, "Although I think the plotting world domination part gets handed out with the silver and green tie," Lilly snickered at that nodding in agreement.

"I get it, I proved you were worthwhile and you're afraid I'll take that back, but why though? We've been friends going on four years, what changed?" Hermione was quiet for a time, feeling as if it was now or never she steeled herself for what was coming next.

"I...am afraid that if you find out how I feel about you, you'd be disgusted with me and leave me behind," sitting up she stared at the brunette in honest confusion,

"What could possibly make me turn on you?" Taking in a deep breath Hermione met her gaze evenly,

"I love you," Lilly blinked a bit then cocked an eyebrow,

"And? I love you too," Hermione closed her eyes while worrying her lip silently cursing the fact that her best friend was raised by mad scientists and misanthropic potion masters,

"No Lilly, I mean to say I am _in_ love with you," Lilly stared at her a moment and then to Hermione's surprise, amusement, and delight the unflappable Miss Potter blushed tomato red. Rather then screaming, or running away in disgust she turned towards the river while whispering,

"Oh," she remained silent for a time and as her face returned to its normal paleness she eventually asked, "Why?" That caught Hermione short, how could she possibly ask that? How could she not know how special she was? Sighing yet again Hermione rubbed her temples slowly as she responded,

"Why? Let me think, you're intelligent and studious, one of the few people who can operate at my level, you're kind and considerate, cunning and playful, you'd do anything to protect those you care about including committing murder, and you're just...just...YOU!" She didn't mean to sound frustrated but sometimes the teenager thing would just override her calm rationality, luckily Lilly was still too shell shocked to notice. Eventually said shell shocked teen spoke in an unsure tone,

"I...just never figured you'd be a witches witch is all, I mean I've read the psychological journals, have since I was younger and I'm more then aware there's a good chance my orientation is towards women after what I went through. Funny thing is I still like looking at handsome blokes I'm just not comfortable with the idea of them touching me like...well you know. But, well, I just never expected you to be...gay is all," Hermione stood and began pacing before stopping in front of Lilly arms crossed.

"I'm not fully sure that I am, I'm not attracted to any other witch that I know of its just...you," Lilly was torn between processing all these revelations and ignoring Tom, his little jabs were making it very difficult not to blush again. Eventually getting her thoughts in order she turned to Hermione and for a brief moment she looked so lost that her friend wished she'd just kept her mouth shut.

"'Mione, I have no idea if I feel the same way about you, honestly I'm not even sure I'm capable of feeling that way about anyone, not to mention the fact that, including our time-turner antics, I'm only thirteen and a half years old. Even if I could love you the way that I think you want, I _know_ I'm going to have intimacy issues when I get older, I'm an introspective witch like that you know," wiping away her tears Hermione nodded in understanding,

"So I'm taking that as a not interested then?" Groaning in frustration Lilly hopped to her feet while Tom lamented his forced participation in adolescent hormone driven relationship issues, once was enough for him thank you very much. Pacing now Lilly stopped and spun on her tiptoe to stare her friend in the eye,

"I have no idea if I'm interested 'Mione! I didn't even consider this to be a bloody option until ten minutes ago!" Sniffling a bit Hermione quietly muttered,

"Language Lilly," rolling her eyes the raven haired witch grabbed Hermione by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake,

"What do you want from me Hermione?" As they stared at each other a moment the muggle-born witch whispered,

"Kiss me," Tom wolf whistled and it took all of Lilly's self control not to laugh, sighing she nodded,

"Fine, we'll see if there's anything there," before Hermione could react Lilly leaned in and pressed her lips to her friends. Her first thought was that it was rather soft and felt nice, it was chaste but sweet, as they stayed like that a moment Hermione wrapped her arms around Lilly's neck and pulled her closer. Their lips separated but after a moment they met again, this process repeated itself several times before they parted their lips to each other and much to Lilly's shock she felt Hermione's tongue dart in and wrap around her own.

Groaning they stayed like that for a time before they broke the embrace both blushing and breathing heavily, taking a step back they were casting sheepish glances at each other before Lilly sighed and fell onto the bench, "We're in some seriously deep shit." Hermione landed beside her and dropped her head to Lilly's shoulder as the younger witch snaked an arm around her friends neck, nodding slowly the bookworm sighed in contentment,

"Quite."

* * *

**I'm personally amused that Lilly is fully self aware of how much trouble she's going to be in with her own psychological hangups and now her unorthodox relationship with her best friend. Also be warned, Tom is going to make her life a living hell by being a thoroughly amused lecherous old man constantly poking fun at his only friend, it should be fun!**

**Also writing an oblivious somewhat senile manipulator is way more difficult then it looks, there's a reason I try not to get into Dumbles PoV too often. Anyway as always please read and review!**

**Next chapter-Peter and Lillith finally meet face to face at her parents grave on Samhain **


	40. A Chapter Inbetween

_**Truncated from it's original form **_

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The thing about England was you very much had to get used to the weather otherwise you'd constantly be let down by the fact that outside of a few months in the summer everything was wet. A nice heavy London fog, drizzle that somehow came in sideways, or sopping soaking heavy snow, really the only thing that could be said about the British Isles in general was that it was always wet aside from when it needed to be. With that thought a young woman standing outside of 12 Grimmauld Place snorted as she cast her eyes to the clouds above; at the very least the weather synced with her mood at the moment.

Bellatrix Black stared out into the falling rain as she numbly fished a pack of crushed and soggy cigarettes from her pocket; not registering the other teens present she patted the pack against her palm until a cylinder fell into her hand. Grinning the raven haired young woman shakily brought the tube to her lips as she ignored the mutterings of her fellows and sighed in satisfaction as the length of tobacco was ignited. Not for the first time she silently thanked her sisters for their gifted lighter; jamming the block of brass into her pocket the lilac eyed young woman began thinking about her current lot in life.

At the moment her "Family" outside her sisters were on her rather long list of enemies; all she had desired was the freedom to choose who she wanted to grow old with and nothing more, apparently that was too much to hope for. Her mother had other ideas and she was to wed one of the LeStranges, this angered the raven haired young woman beyond words and she had no reason to hid the contempt she felt for the boys in question.

"My my my! Forever shall I be the lady in waiting to the French interlopers, shall I prepare the tea and practice my curtsy in preparation for the invaders to make mother and father proud?!" While her words were meant to be to herself she heard echoed laughter and quickly jerked her head to attention facing the source of the cacophony as her black tresses shook about her pale face. Bellatrix glared at the approaching group of young men, her hooded eyes hidden behind a cloud of cigarette smoke, lovely, just who she wanted to see.

"Ah dear Bellatrix surely being made part of our family could not possibly be _that_ bad, we are of proper breeding are we not?" As Rabastan, Rodolphus and their hangers on stopped before her it took all of her extreme control to resist the urge to cast the cruciatus on the lot of them; well that was a bit excessive, Rabastan was just a kid following his big brother, Rodolphus though...

"I believe I made my standing on you clear last year Rudy, you know, when I hit you with Evans' castration hex?" Ah, never let it be said that mudbloods couldn't be useful, while inferior to a pureblood such as herself they could often times be clever in ways that suited, and it would be hypocrisy in the extreme to ignore their innovation. Rodolphus cringed a bit before his sneering smile returned,

"Ah and I will make sure to remind you of that...incident... on our wedding night dear Bella, I hear your father is actually considering blood binding you to the contract so you cannot back out. Heh, even if you resist you'll be compelled to do what I order you too, a living doll if you will, how...enticing..." As the horror of what the boy before her stated was being absorbed she felt a ruffle of power as two glowering youngsters took to her sides.

"Back off LeStrange, or shall we remind you what _true_ pain feels like?" Bella stared at Narcissa with shock but was cut off as Sirius spoke up from her other side,

"Yes, please, I've been looking for an excuse to use some of my more...eclectic spells, so yes, do so insult the eldest child of Black, it could be fun..." Rodolphus looked like he was about to do just that when his terrified little brother tapped his arm and whispered in his ear. After a moment the elder brother nodded and turned back to Bellatrix snearing lightly,

"It matters not, soon you'll be my plaything dear Bella, until then, I bid thee far well," with that the group reentered the Black Townhouse without a word. After a few moments Bellatrix finished her cigarette and dropped it to the pavement, crushing the smoldering butt with her pointed toe she turned to her sister and cousin smiling widely.

"Thanks you two, you were brilliant," Cissy shrugged off the praise as was to be expected of her modest little sister but Sirius blushed as he nodded once,

"Of course," he stated without any preamble, "You're family, plus, the LeStranges creep me out." Bellatrix snorted lightly at that as she resisted the urge to light another cigarette,

"You and me both cousin, shall we go back inside?"

* * *

Gasping Bellatrix sat up and rubbed her temples slowly, taking in her surroundings she saw her husband sprawled out snoring lightly, the lycanthrope resting easily in the early winter night. Turning to the clock above their wardrobe Bella realized it was still far too early to wake and fell back into the bed, a moment later Remus threw an arm around her and pulled her naked body to his hairy chest. Smirking she broke the embrace and wormed her way to his lower body, staring at his rather impressive extra appendage she took him into her mouth and began working him into hardness.

After a while Remus became alert as he stared at his wife in groggy confusion, she had his rather hard member in hand and was caught a moment before impaling herself on the pole in question. It wasn't the first time this happened but the werewolf was if nothing else, a curious being,

"Bellatrix, what are you doing?" He gasped as she dropped herself onto his shaft, grinning she leaned down and kissed him hotly before breaking the embrace cooing slightly,

"What I want to love, now are you going to be a woman and question it or take advantage?" There really was no other response, grabbing her wrists he spun her around and found himself hovering before her,

"I love you," he stated plainly, Bella curled her legs around his waist pulling him deeper into herself,

"And I love you my lovely fuzzy hubby," as they continued on neither broken witch or werewolf wizard realized they were about to conceive a son that would literally be the only thing keeping their loving pseudo niece from burning the world clean of all life.

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**Fallout 4 is alot of fun, talk to you all later!**


	41. In the End, It Doesn't Even Matter

**I. AM. SO. SORRY. Seriously I don't deserve you guys, that stupid bloody Author Note from last chapter has haunted me since I posted it and you deserve an explanation. I won't bother with details but I got into some serious trouble at work and they even dropped the regional manager on my head and I was formally written up...for something someone in another department did on a day I wasn't working. Literally I was the whipping boy due to the fact that I was the most recent hire and I was _livid_ with rage over it but I couldn't say anything in fear of getting fired.**

**So what did I do? I lashed out at the only people I could without loosing my ability to buy food, namely you guys. You didn't deserve it and it was idiotic but rarely does vodka and rage make for good bedfellows. So, please, accept my deepest apologies and if you feel it deserved, leave a review, otherwise please enjoy this chapter and have a great weekend.**

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Blaise Zabini was for all intents and purposes a relatively easy young man to please; that is not to say he had unrefined tastes, rather his interest was kept by little more then being surrounded by unique people to observe. Truthfully it hadn't shocked him in the slightest that his boggart had ended up taking the form of himself blind and deaf staring despondently into the distance; unconsciously shivering at the thought of being so damn _bored_ he turned his musings back to what had him concerned. In the weeks leading up to Samhain he had observed an unexpected change in the dynamics between his two favorite witches, and as far as he could tell he was the only one to notice, thank Merlin.

He was not surprised by his fellow students lack of perception truth be told, luckily for Lillith and Hermione regular people always missed the subtle signs while fixating on the obvious ones, the hapless fools patting each other on the back as they grinned at the writing they found on the wall.

The problem was that the signs were _there_ to be seen you just had to know to look for them; Lilly inhaling the scent of Hermione's hair when they leaned in close to each other. Hermione blushing lightly when Lilly caught her staring at her too long and responding with a bright smile causing _more_ blushing. Holding hands under the table as they played footsie whilst throwing each other dopey smiles, really if Blaise didn't know better he'd think his friends _wanted_ it to be advertised that they were in a relationship! Sighing to himself tailing said witches as they dragged Draco along in between them he could only shake his head in frustration mulling over how to help them keep their secret.

What it came down to was the fact that same sex relationships were not only frowned on in the wizarding world they were downright discouraged. Factor in that Lilly was the 'Girl-Who-Lived-To-Despise-Her-Hyphenated-Title' and Hermione was a '_lowly_ _mudblood_' and you had a recipe for a future disaster littered with destroyed reputations and broken hearts. Broken bodies as well come to think of it, Lilly would not long tolerate any interference with her love life after all and he knew she had no compunctions about killing those who got in her way.

Wincing at this Blaise did his best to think of more useful thoughts and eventually gave it up as a bad job, he really couldn't interfere until they officially let him into their confidence regardless. At the very least he'd get to rub in a few 'I told you so's when they broke the news to Draco, that ought to be fun for a some laughs, until the crying started at least, then of course he'd feel remorse in finding amusement in his blonde friends despair. Sighing again the Italian wizard not for the first time wondered if befriending people was really worth the emotional turmoil, ah well, at the very least it wouldn't be boring.

* * *

Lilly really didn't know what to think of her changed relationship status with Hermione, if she were to be completely honest with herself she'd long considered romance to be one of those little frivolities her minions indulged in that distracted from life's true pursuit; namely becoming stronger than anyone else. It didn't feel like a waste of effort though, while her hormone addled mind was indeed drawn away from becoming stronger she wasn't all that bothered by the distraction, in fact it felt good having a deeper connection to her best friend, and that's what scared her.

These were the thoughts plaguing the young heiress on the eve before Samhain as she held her girlfriend close beneath her canopied bed, gently rubbing her fingers across the slumbering witch's cheek Lilly sighed wistfully. Nearly letting out a laughed snort she rolled her eyes remembering how Hermione wanted to 'slow down' the speed of their relationship by no longer sleeping beside each other at night.

She lasted one night without a Lilly cuddle and that was it.

That being said neither witch was stupid enough to lie to themselves that their dating didn't complicate matters immensely and Lilly needed someone to confide in, someone who would never betray her trust, someone who was such a complete and utter sexual deviant that they'd never judge her for her orientation.

It was time to call in her big sister, hopefully 'Dora could get Samhain off.

* * *

Charlie Weasley woke up with a start as a persistent tapping rang across the previously silent bedroom, groaning he sat up and winced as his long hair was caught in the diamond engagement ring occupying the hand currently sprawled against his chest. Sighing he disentangled Nymphadora's limb from his person and placed it to the naked witch's side as he sat up slowly; if nothing else raising dragons for a living taught him how to move silently and safely to avoid angering dangerous creatures. Oddly enough his newly minted fiance would probably be proud to be compared to a fire breathing lizard, woman were weird like that.

Gently padding across the room he opened the window to let a beautiful snowy owl land on the dresser before him, clacking her beak quietly Hedwig lifted one leg offering the letter to the redhead while remaining perfectly poised. Honestly how a bloody owl took after her mistress in such a manner baffled the young man but he just shrugged it off as another oddity of his future sister in-law and accepted the letter. Cracking the wax seal he just pointed to the open doorway and the white owl nodded once and winged into the kitchen to eat her fill, casting a weak lumos he read the rather terse letter once and silently shrugged to himself.

Honestly if Lils needed her sister this bad who was he to say otherwise? Not wanting to wake his wife to be he quickly penned a letter to her boss and once he was finished filing the request for the day off Hedwig appeared before him leg lifted expectantly. Not refraining from rolling his eyes he attached the letter and sent the owl off, closing the window he crawled back into bed and soon found his happy place as 'Dora wrapped him into a full body hug.

Grinning to the unfeeling ceiling he dropped his face to the pink haired witch's head and inhaled deeply with a sense of satisfaction, he was undoubtedly the luckiest wizard in the world.

* * *

Hermione was well aware that her girlfriend was acting oddly distant, yet she remained silent in the hopes Lilly would reveal what bothered her without pestering or needling as the pair approached the Great Hall in the pursuit of breakfast. Her hopes were dashed though as the raven haired witch twirled her eggs about absently with her fork, her eyes shooting to the ceiling expectantly as the mornings post owls flitted in through the windows. After the last owl left Lilly sighed dejectedly as she dropped her eating utensil only to be startled when her dad silently appeared behind the pair, Hermione _hated_ it when he did that.

"Miss Potter," he drawled out in a silkily quiet tone, his daughter leaned her head back to meet his gaze and the pair exchanged a brief smirk before he continued. "An Auror Tonks is to escort you to Godric's Hollow to visit your parents graves as requested, you may use the floo in my office to reach her at her home. I am too busy to escort you myself but I trust you are capable of finding your own way?" Eyes widening Lilly stood up as Professor Snape took a step back to give her room, giving a brief curtsy she threw him a congenial smile in return.

"Thank you Professor, I do know the way and thank you for delivering the message," casting a glance and then a wink to Hermione the Lady Slytherin spun away from her father figure and prowled back down to the dungeons. Luckily for Hermione there was only one wizard who noticed her staring at the retreating witch's swaying hips, sighing in exasperation Blaise silently wondered if he was too young to indulge in fire whiskey to deal with this ridiculous stress.

Unbeknownst to all a single witch noticed the muggle-born teens wistful gaze but Luna was far too entranced with Neville's explanation on the combat usages of mandrakes to comment on it, after all it could make for a decent headline in next weeks Quibbler.

* * *

Lilly threw the floo powder into the smoldering fire and quickly jumped through the green flames, her duck and roll coming to a halt before a pair of dark brown dragon hide boots. Regaining her feet the young heiress glanced up to the newsboy capped pinkette clad in a black wool jacket before her and quickly squealed as she jumped forward wrapping her legs around the woman's waist as she pulled her into a tight hug.

"Dora! So glad to see you sis! You got my letter I take it!? How are you doing?!" Laughing the woman in question returned the exuberant hug as she swung the smaller witch about a bit, breaking the embrace Lilly dropped her feet back to the ground and grinned up to her big sister who nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yup yup, well Charlie got it and took the initiative to ask my boss for the day off, it was short notice but Bonsey-" Lilly cut her off while nodding sagely,

"Bonsey has a soft spot for you, interesting excuse by the way, going to see my parents graves that is," 'Dora shrugged at that as she hooked her arm through her sisters and apparated them without warning to the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. Gasping at the surprise jump halfway across England Lilly threw the smirking woman a scathing glare which was promptly ignored as she replied without skipping a beat in an obnoxiously chipper tone.

"Well you haven't visited them since you started Hogwarts and as far as Dumbles knows you've never been here before so your dad was able spin a good yarn about paying your respects to the dead and all that. So that being said, spill," Lilly worried her lip as she glanced at the crowds surrounding her parents monument in the village center but 'Dora waved off the unspoken concern lightly. "Don't worry about them, Notice-Me-Nots and a Muffliato." Grinning at her sisters preemptive actions she took in a deep breath and quietly spoke,

"I kissed a witch and I liked it...alot," not missing a beat 'Dora nodded once as she guided Lilly to the house where her entire life had been turned upside down by a megalomaniac and a pair of pissed off aurors,

"Witches really do give the best kisses, soft and succulent, but there's more to it then that yeah?" Pleased at the lack of reaction Lilly felt her confidence grow as she continued,

"It's gone past liking sis, I think I might love her but that's just ridiculous since I'm thirteen, I mean I remember your rants about the girls in your dorm having the world end when their week long relationships fell apart. I _know_ I'm too young to put any bank on this but it just feels...right." They stopped before the wrecked cottage covered in graffiti, either well wishes or curses depending on the artist, 'Dora stood in silence for a moment before replying.

"Hermione?" Lilly balked slightly breaking away from the older witch as she stared at 'Dora's mirthful expression in confusion,

"How did you know?" A throaty laugh bubbled up from the auror and eventually her laughter became such an issue that she had to rest her hands against her knees; Lilly found no amusement in the situation so she simply crossed her arms and pouted a bit. Wiping a tear from her eye 'Dora finally got control of herself but she was still grinning like an idiot, or rather, like a Black,

"Oh dear I won the pool!" Now completely lost the green eyed witch stared at her sister in fear that she'd lost her mind which only caused more laughter and for the metamorph's hair to shift through multiple shades of purple. Eventually calming once again she leaned down and kissed Lilly's forehead before continuing, "I bet your dad, Uncle Remus, and Sirius that you'd end up gay and with the smartest witch you could find. Sirius bet that you'd find the sluttiest witch that could hold a decent conversation, Moony figured you'd end up with Draco."

Lilly was torn between being miffed at the idea she was the source of a such a dubious bet and horrified that yet another family member thought she'd fall for her pet Malfoy, Tom broke into her thoughts with a knowing nod at this.

"_I told you before dear, he's getting too close and a quick crucio will put him back in his place,"_ closing her eyes as to not betray any emotion to her grinning sister she quietly seethed back at her mentor and bane of her existance.

"_Tom, I am NOT putting a friend under the cruciatus, I'll just have to divert his attention elsewhere, maybe Ginny, a bit young but she's pretty and I haven't found a use for her yet,"_ Tom 'hmm'd' at that but before he could respond 'Dora began speaking again.

"Anyway, I get why you're worried about the idea of being in love, really I do, but on the plus side sex with a witch is pretty great since we know how our bodies work. Also you don't have to worry about a ten second wonder ruining a good time, always embarrassing for all parties involved. No pregnancy scares either, a plus no matter how you slice it." Lilly let out a deep exasperated sigh as she questioned herself on _why_ she thought discussing her love life with someone named _Nymph_adora was a good idea.

"We aren't at that stage yet and we aren't going to be for awhile, what I'm worried about is feeling too deeply too early in this relationship not to mention the negative connotations of a same sex relationship in the wizarding world." Budging Lilly along with a gentle shove the pair walked towards the graveyard as the taller woman shrugged,

"I think it's perfectly acceptable that you're feeling that way about your best friend, you've been thick as thieves since you were ten and you know magicals form lasting relationships at a young age, s'why you'll be hard pressed to find a virgin past fifth year really. That being said yeah, the gay things gonna be a no win situation for you if it ever comes out, what with being under the spotlight and Hermione being a muggle-born and all. Bringing her into the old ways or not she's still considered a second class citizen by most of the elite scumbags soooo yeah, that's a thing."

'Dora's indifference was honestly soothing, yeah they wouldn't be accepted by the general public if they were ever caught but really, what did Lilly honestly care? She was the Girl-Who-Lived after all, if the world didn't like who she was forged into then the world could burn. Really they'd all bow to her eventually either way so in the end it didn't matter how they got there. Now more motivated then ever to just take over and conquer the idiots before they could do anything to hurt her the chattering witches soon approached the final resting place of James and Lilly Potter.

What was odd was that there was a man already standing before the headstone, hands in the pockets of a long black jacket, head bowed in respect as loose grey hair blew gently in the wind. Lilly and 'Dora approached him and it was clear he'd been standing there awhile, 'Dora coughed lightly and the man jumped with a start, quickly turning he faced the two witches and his bright blue eyes widened perceptibly when he saw who they were. Much to Lilly's relief rather then acting like a simpering sycophant he simply smiled in greeting before speaking,

"Hello my dears, my apologies for intruding, most people just gather at that foolish statue in the town square on this day, Jimmy and Lils would have hated that gaudy thing, really I'd ask what the ministry was thinking but that would be an oxymoron." 'Dora snorted and Lilly couldn't help but smile a bit, she rather liked the well dressed man's candor, plus his magic felt...familiar,

"Hi, yes I haven't visited my parents in some time, I just...don't like being in this city, too much happened for me to be comfortable for long. You speak as if you knew my parents well, did you go to school with them?" The man smiled widely showing off a mouthful of straight white teeth as he nodded once and turned back to the headstone,

"Yes, although I was always an outsider looking in, never as close to them as I could have been, my own fault really, insecurities and all. Black was the life of the party always supporting whatever crazy idea James came up with, Lupin would try to be the voice of reason despite finding most of what they did amusing, and Evans, well..." He trailed off and looked up to the sky sighing sadly.

Turning back to Lilly he tilted his head slightly as his gaze became slightly disconcerting, "You have her eyes you know? Not just the color, the mad glint, Lils was amazing like that, her mind never stopped moving, never stopped calculating. Truthfully I think James was the first one to see who she really was and that's why he pursued her so doggedly...that and he was stubborn as hell and enjoyed a challenge."

Lilly smirked at that and felt a bit like preening, every time she was compared to her mother and father felt as if she passed some sort of judgement with flying colors, turning back to the grave she quietly asked,

"What about Peter?" The man went rigid at this but she really didn't expect any other response, after a few moments he relaxed and shrugged, turning he caught 'Dora's eye who nodded once. It irritated her that the adults were basically confirming if she could handle the discussion or not but she'd let it slide, her curiosity was too great after all.

"Peter," the man began slowly and with a bit of trepidation, "Peter was...weak, he always looked into the close knit relationship of the Marauders but never made any effort to make himself more useful, more important. Honestly most people were not altogether shocked that it had been he who betrayed your parents rather then Black, if anything they were surprised that he pulled off framing his former friend and got away with for years." Lilly nodded once again as she read the headstone, she always wondered at the quote elegantly carved into the marble stone;

_'The Last Enemy That Shall Be Defeated Is Death'_

Tom mulled this over and agreed with his young friends puzzlement, if he hadn't known it was from the Christian bible he'd have assumed the quote was made by some Dark Lord or Lady in times past. That immediately made him wonder about Christ's affiliations but that was a musing for another day, turning back to his charges thoughts he tuned back to her conversation.

"Why do you think he betrayed them?" The middle aged mans face twisted into a disgusted sneer as his eyes became hooded slits,

"He was a coward and a weakling, he betrayed all those that loved him for the security the Dark Lord supplied, better to be at the Devil's side then in his path, the bastard..." Lilly shook her head as 'Dora threw her arm around her kid sisters shoulders pulling her into a light hug as the younger witch replied.

"Better to be the Devil I'd say, I do have to wonder what he plans on doing, he broke everyone out of Azkaban, the few Death Eaters that survived the attack on the Hogwarts Express all said it was his idea, and no one knows what he wants." The man shrugged as he pulled a single rose out of an obviously expanded pocket as he turned back to the grave,

"He's probably looking to repent, to seek forgiveness for the crimes he committed against those who he saw as family, and at the same time he has to be aware that he is a marked man. Literally, a slave brand and all, so he has no options other then serving a psychopathic megalomaniac after what he had done, lose lose really, but the light show will be interesting to watch in the end... That...and he has faith that his little niece can beat the bastard once and for all." Placing the rose on the headstone he turned to the ladies and smiled sadly as Lilly stared up at him with dawning realization,

"I see...if I were to meet him I'd give him the forgiveness he wanted so badly," 'Dora tensed a bit as the man, no Peter Pettigrew took in a sharp breath in shock, Lilly continued on regardless. "He betrayed my parents, not me, everyone gets a chance, one, singular, if he wanted my forgiveness he has it this time, after that, well..." Peter stared at her and nodded slowly as he offered his hand, staring at it tentatively she shook it gently as he let out a sad sigh.

"His path is cut in stone dear, let it be known he thinks the world of you, but his destiny is out of his hands yet he holds no ill will towards you Little One," Lilly stared at the man who could have been another Uncle, another member of her family if only he had been stronger. In the end a tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek as she nodded in understanding.

"It could have been different you know," he smiled sadly as he turned around,

"It always could have been dearest, in the end we have to make peace with what we've done and accept the consequences...please...be strong, and know that your blessing helped a pathetic old man come to terms with himself." With that Peter apparated away, 'Dora stared down at Lilly for several moments but her little sister broke away and approached the grave, picking up the rose Peter left behind she read the tag and let out a sob.

Placing it back on the grave she turned and walked away, before following the distraught teen 'Dora turned to read the tag and sighed,

_'I'm Sorry'_

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**I'm not an arrogant man, but I gotta say I think my Peter is a far more three dimensional character then JKR came up with, hope you all enjoyed finally finding out what motivated the madman and in my personal amusement Blaise pulling his hair out in worry. Please review if you feel up to it, stay classy.**


	42. Life, The Universe, Everything

**Thanks so much for understanding my little emo moment guys, I really appreciate it!**

**Now, I've gotten a couple complaints about Lillith being a Mary Sue, I disagree sooooo much on this.**

**Look, Harry was a powerful, cunning, and often times a clever wizard who didn't take life seriously and despite that met insurmountable odds and _won_. Well, not counting Half Blood Prince when he fell madly in love with a girl he paid no attention to for five years and Hermione changed her middle name and was replaced with a pod person that didn't behave anything like she had in five previous books...**

**Anyway, Lilly has been trained since the age of seven to understand magic, politics, combat, and given a rather misanthropic view on it all thanks to Severus. Harry never tried and had the world following his lead when the chips were down, Lilly is trying and is doing her level best to become a pillar of the community in order to control them. She isn't a Mary Sue, she's the goddamn ****Bene Gesserit.**

* * *

As the subdued pair of witches arrived back at Hogwarts 'Dora soon escorted Lilly back to the Slytherin dungeons after requesting some hot cocoa from the resident house elves for the distraught teen. Leaving Lilly with her friends after briefly whispering what happened to a now furiously blushing Hermione the rising star of the Auror Corps spun on her heel and after a bit of prowling found herself before the History of Magics offices.

Taking a deep breath she rapped her hand against the fine grained oak which almost immediately swung open, nodding to the intern manning the greeting desk she approached her Aunt's office and waited before it patiently. Soon it opened of it's own accord and she stepped into the plush room whilst unceremoniously plopping into the overstuffed leather seat facing the rooms only occupant.

"Nymphadora, so pleasant to see you, what can I help you with?" 'Dora did her best not to cringe at the use of her name, she'd long taken offense at its usage especially after she'd come to the self discovery that she was a...woman of questionable virtue. Whenever that came up Lilly would snort and state 'Since when is being a slut a crime in this family?', yet another reason to adore her little sister. Clearing her throat the young Auror turned to her Aunt Narcissa smiling weakly,

"I took Lils to see her parents graves today," Narcissa Malfoy pursed her lips lightly at that as she gently shoved a freshly poured cup of tea towards her eldest niece, accepting the searing liquid 'Dora happily sipped it as the blonde responded.

"I see, Lilly is a strong young lady so I assume she handled it well, and you usually refrain from meeting with me in private due to...past altercations so something _must_ have happened to warrant such an action on your part." 'Dora did her best not to snort and roll her eyes, Aunt Cissy was such a pain in the arse to deal with, Aunt Bella was a nutter and more or less easy to get along with in so long as you left human decency at the door, the youngest Black daughter though...

"Quite, two things, she's a lesbian annnnd she thinks she's falling in love with Hermione, plus we ran into Peter Pettigrew, he apologized for ruining her life and she forgave him. Well, forgave him this once, if he tries anything in the future he's free game, how was your day?" Narcissa stared at her a few moments and then pouted lightly as she took a small pouch from her desk and fished out several galleons before dropping them into an openly smirking 'Dora's hand.

"Split it with Sev, well I'm disappointed and I do hope this doesn't damage her relationship with Draco, he is quite smitten with her after all. It...doesn't surprise me as much as I hate to admit it, after what happened to her and the fixation she has on the acquisition of knowledge... Anyway, Pettigrew is of more pertinent concern, what happened?" So 'Dora explained the ill conceived meeting as the blonde woman quietly sipped her tea, after finishing the explanation and wishing her cup contained something more potent the young Auror slumped in her seat.

"So yeah, that happened, still not sure how to take it in, thoughts?" Cissy pursed her lips and scrunched her nose in thought which 'Dora reflected was a trait carried by all the women in her family. Eventually the aristocratic witch sighed and placed her now empty teacup back on her desk as she replied,

"I think, and I cannot believe I'm saying this, that you should let Headmaster Dumbledore know about the meeting, not Lilly's relationship with Hermione obviously but...the meeting at the graveyard is important. The way you described him speaking he fully believes the Dark Lord is not dead and is soon to return to power, disgusted by it or not..."

'Dora sighed at this, she agreed with her Aunt she'd just been hoping the older witch would dissuade her from having to deal with the wrinkled bastard. Perking up slightly she let a Sirius grade smile crawl across her lips which immediately put Narcissa on guard, "What do you have planned dear niece?" Smirking widely as her hair unconsciously shifted to the most luridly bright of pinks the young Auror smugly replied,

"I just realized this event was an action of importance to the Ministry while I was on duty, which means it needs to be reported to my boss," Narcissa smirked knowingly at her niece as she nodded in response,

"Which means those who need to know do, and third parties shant be involved..." 'Dora continued grinning as she excused herself but paused at the door as her Aunt called to her, "Oh, Nymphadora... I questioned it at times but you've proven my worries unfounded on several occasions, mixed blood or not, you are a Lady of Black, stay safe dear niece." Completely floored at the unexpected complement the now furiously blushing witch nodded to her Aunt and made her escape.

* * *

Lilly had remained quiet for nearly two weeks, she wasn't cold to her friends and those she saw as family, far from it, in fact she bordered on overly affectionate but once she admitted to the meeting with her parents betrayer all soon understood her disposition. The quiet though...she didn't raise her hand in class, she didn't volunteer to help in DADA, didn't try to drag anyone off for impromptu study sessions or games of football, she simply closed herself off from the world at large.

The exception to the rule was when she was alone with her girlfriend, Hermione practically became her safe place and was held in a crushing hug on a nightly basis as the teenage witch cried silently to herself. The brunette didn't know what to do, she'd never had to comfort a loved one like this before and she honestly didn't think Lilly would take any sort of empty platitude well, so Hermione did the only thing she could and made herself available.

It wasn't likely Lilly would open up at random but Hermione Jean Granger would be damned before she'd let the woman she loved think she was alone...despite having no idea what was rolling through that brilliant and slightly insane mind. It was this resolve that forced her to endure some of Scotland's _wonderful_ early winter weather as she sat in the stands watching the Quiditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Truth be told the rivalry that had been so famous for so long really didn't effect her year group, Lilly trained with Sally-Anne on a weekly basis, she was friends with both the Gryffindor beaters, and she'd been seen on more then one occasion giggling and laughing with their chasers. The only member of the team who didn't accept her olive branch was rather ironically the team Captain Oliver Wood, although he was as much a junkie for the sport as Hermione's dad was for Rugby and American Football so really she couldn't say much on that subject.

That being said, as deeply as she was falling for her best friend, as much as she enjoyed talking to Sally-Anne, and no matter how secretly impressed she was with the Weasley twins magical experiments disguised as pranks, Hermione could not find herself giving a damn about this game as the beating rain soaked her through. Both she and Blaise took turns casting drying and warming charms on each other as they watched their Chaser and Seeker friends zip through the freezing cold rain and sleet, the excited smiles of both players only irritating their friends more.

"It has to be a Black thing, only rational reasoning I can come up with for their obliviousness to the weather, that entire family has been quiditch crazy since it's conception, it has to be genetic," Blaise stated flatly as another lofty gust nearly blew the pair over further soaking them. Hermione nodded in full agreement,

"Bellatrix and Sirius are just as bad about the sport, both of them were beaters and the dinner table arguments could get quite..." she trailed off as Blaise helpfully threw in a word,

"Verbose?" Hermione snorted and shook her head quickly,

"No, violent, remember Sirius was a Gryffindor, house pride and all that, usually ended with Andromeda threatening the two of them once it came to fisticuffs, for being a healer that woman can be utterly terrifying." Blaise snorted lightly at that as he shook his head,

"Doesn't surprise me at all really, my mother was offered a contract on Andromeda Tonks during the last war...she laughed...quite a bit actually before she rejected it, as mum likes to say it's always the quiet innocent ones you need to be wary of." As he said this both Sally and Lilly buzzed the stands in obvious pursuit of the snitch, the fact Hermione couldn't see her own hands in this weather begged how her girlfriend was able to track something like the golden snitch.

She was about to comment on this when she felt a shiver run up her spine, glancing over to Blaise she shared a look of concern with him as the very will to live began draining from her, pulling the Italian wizard to herself to, if nothing else, keep from falling over she stared into the skies. Horror, really the word didn't convey what her heart felt but it was the only thing that could truly describe what she felt when her eyes reached the heavens.

Clouds of Dementors drifted down from the mists, their very presence causing the rain to turn to sleet and the sleet to turn to hail. Shivering Hermione's barely conscious mind took in the horror of several of the quiditch players falling from their brooms; the only thing preventing their deaths being the cushioning charms on the pitch. Trying to force back the overwhelming despair that was trying to crush her down she fervently searched about for Lilly and she felt her heart seize when she found her.

Nearly one hundred meters above solid ground Lillith Potter was being held by the throat at the hands of one of the vilest demons to ever be drawn to the realm, the creature leaned it's head forward and soon a silvery wisp was being drawn from the prone girls form. A moment later there was an explosion of power that left all present dazed as they stared into the swirling clouds above, the brilliant yellow sun smiling down upon them, now the eye of a storm the likes of which Scotland would never forget.

* * *

Lilly was having a blast, honestly when Marcus had suggested pretending the entire team had taken ill to avoid playing in the bad weather she and Draco had nearly come down to beating the trollish man into submission; thankfully threatening him with castration had been enough. Sometimes having a history of violence worked in a girls favor.

That being said she really was beginning to grow weary of this game, she was tired, she was soaked through, and all she wanted was to be cuddled by her friends next to one of the dungeons hearths while Crookshanks lay in her lap and Nelle wrapped around her shoulders. As always though Sally provided excellent competition and thus she pushed onward, smirking as they buzzed the stands she caught her girlfriends weary gaze for a moment and only grinned further.

Her relationship was becoming more...comfortable, less like it was something she had to actively work at and more along the lines of becoming a simple fact of life, not something she regretted at all. Sighing as the snitch went straight into the sky Lilly tailed Sally as they bolted after the little ball of gold, pulling her slight form even tighter to her broom she willed it to go faster as the stinging sleet pelted her face.

Suddenly everything changed, she was gasping for breath as the very air became too painfully cold to breath, Sally veered off and she stared in horror as her blonde friend fell from her broom, turning to catch her fellow seeker Lilly was stopped in mid motion as the frozen grip of Lucifer himself wrapped around her neck. As her broom went flying still at full speed back toward the pitch grounds Lilly grabbed at the scabbed hand crushing her neck, looking up she gasped in horror seeing the twisted visage of a Dementor glaring down at her.

The truth of Lillith Dorea Potter was that being raped was not actually her worst memory, true, it was horrid, but it was a turning point in her life where she took the road to become stronger at any cost to protect herself and those she loved. It didn't hurt that she murdered all those involved the night it happened, she had been weak, and she had become strong, it was simply one of many terrible events to happen to her on her road to supreme control.

No the worst memory, the catalyst that ruined her life, that changed the fate of a young girl who was loved and adored and would have been a well adjusted member of society was witnessing the murder of her parents before her very eyes. The fact that the man who committed said murder lived in her head, and shared the murder and his subsequent death as the worst moment of his life caused an interesting feedback as the Dementor forced them to relive the event as it sucked her undying soul from between her lips.

* * *

A little girl laughed happily as the hazel eyed man rocked his knee up and down giving a slight jolt of magic each time she fell back down sending her higher and higher, her mother rolled her eyes at the antics as she swept a lock of auburn hair behind her ear.

"James really do you think that's safe?" Snorting he rolled his eyes as the raven haired girl squealed in delight,

"Come on Lils, Little Lils loves being in the air! Be glad she took after me and Padfoot, both you and Sev are useless off the ground," Lily grunted in annoyance at this as she turned her emerald glare towards her husband.

"I am _not_ useless in the air, I just...take some time to adjust..." James snickered at that as he caught his daughter in hand earning himself another happy giggle as he rubbed his nose in her hair. Turning back to his wife he threw her a smug grin as he gazed above his daughters head,

"Well, I seem to remember back in our fourth year yo-" He was cut off as the entire cottage shuddered under the force of a massive magical blast, turning serious he was across the room in an instant handing Lillith off to her mother. "He's here Lils, take our girl and run!" Not waiting for her to argue he pushed her away as the front door blew apart in a spray of splinters, James Potter stared down Lord Voldemort with contempt as a sneer crawled up his face. The Dark Lord looked about the room a moment before smiling congenially towards the Potter Scion,

"Hello James, may I call you James? I'm sorry to come calling this late at night but you see I've been informed your little daughter is a potential threat to me, I have no desire to spill such strong and Pure blood so please, step aside and allow me to do what must be done." James for his part blinked rapidly both shocked at Voldemort's candor and enraged at his request,

"Sorry, _Lord, _but my progeny has a long life ahead of her and I'm going to make sure she gets to enjoy it, Infernium Interrus!" With that black and violet flames sprayed from James' wand and Voldemort actually yelped as he dove out of the path of the Hell Fire Thrower curse. Turning to face Potter Voldemort sneered as he retook his feet casting several curses in turn, the thing most people didn't realize was that those that survived encounters with the Dark Lord never used 'Light' spells, but rather borderline Dark and straight up Dark curses.

James and Lily Potter were right up there with Alastor Moody and Frank Longbottom when it came to "Offense is the _best_ defense" and any engagement with them was harrying even for someone as powerful as the Dark Lord. Really, when you're facing off against idiots using stunners when you're using organ expellers you get used to being on top of the food chain, and when you run into someone who just doesn't give a shit...

"Be reasonable James, it's just the half blood bint I'm after, you and the mudblood can walk away and spawn as many little cretins as you want, I just need this one to die." Stating this as he summoned various objects to block James' curses his red eyes widened as the younger man radiated a blue aura, rage taking over rational thought.

"YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY DAUGHTER!" Wand spinning about himself the furniture turned into various animals and rushed towards the Dark Lord, sighing he began blasting them but a moment later he stared forward in shock as an enormous stag charged him. Impaling Voldemort on it's massive antlers the stag shook him about and slammed him against the wall, raising his wand he sent a killing curse at the beast who immediately shifted back to James Potter who already had his arm cocked back. Punching the Dark Lord in the face James was bringing his wand to bear when Voldemort gasped out,

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" With that the young Auror fell to the ground lifeless, gasping for breath Voldemort cast several healing spells on himself as he tore a chunk of antler from his sternum, groaning the Dark Lord shook himself and downed several potions as he headed for the stairs. No. One. Was EVER hearing about this one. Half way up the stairs he paused as he was stared down by Lily Potter, the look of complete and unyielding loathing displayed on her face sent a trill of fear down his spine.

"Lance Autem Ardentem," he couldn't get out of the way in time as the beam of pure coherent light blasted down the stairway catching the paint and carpet afire in the process. Voldemort had never actually experienced true pain before, as much as he enjoyed casting the cruciatius on his minions he'd never been on the receiving end of true agony; that of course was before James Potter gored him and Lily Potter burnt his fucking left arm off.

Screaming he threw every dark spell he could think of at the mudblood bitch, she cried in pain as several cutters lashed her body but knowing that her husband was already dead she sent a dozen explosions curses towards the invading wizard sending shrapnel flying. Spinning on a column of smoke up the stairs he landed before Lily and punched her in the stomach sending her careening down the hall, coming to a stop she shakily took to her feet and backed into the nursery housing her daughter.

Voldemort sneered as he cast a spell on his stump of an arm creating a silver replacement as he strolled towards the now fatally bleeding woman,

"Severus asked me to spare your family, begged actually, and since I do rather enjoy his company and skills I'll ask you once, step aside and give up your daughter, and you'll be allowed to live." Standing up straight she glared at him with her good eye and spat blood on the floor before her, he was too focused on her face to notice the glow that faded into the floor as she replied,

"I'd rather die a thousand deaths then to ever surrender any child of mine to a madman like you, take _me_ but spare her, I beg of you..." Voldemort sighed as he fired a killing curse at the woman dropping her in an instant.

"Severus is never going to let me hear the end of this, ah well, with your deaths no one can stand against me, nothing personal child, this is strictly business," with that he aimed his wand at the crying girl and cast the killing curse, and then he knew no more.

* * *

Bellatrix Lupin was a Dark Witch, she knew it, was proud of it, and lived it up to the hilt; that being said she was not in fact evil, much like Severus Light spells responded to her just as readily as Dark, it was intent not orientation after all. That being said when her daughter was snatched off her broom by a Dementor of all things the all encompassing rage that assailed her overpowered any effect the Demon had on her as her wand shot towards the sky,

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Her cry was echoed not a second later by her husband, Severus, and Minerva; the Dementor about to kiss the young teen screamed in agony as it was shredded apart by a tabby cat, a doe, a wolf, and a panther. As Lillith fell to the ground below all watched in horror as a swarm of Dementors followed her all too eager to feed on such a powerful soul; it wasn't until a silvery white Phoenix burned through their numbers that they backed off.

As Bellatrix watched the absolutely livid Headmaster march onto the pitch to heal the fallen students she could not help but shudder at the shear power radiating off the ancient ArchMagus. A complete bastard he may be, but there was a reason they had all stayed under his radar, after all if Voldemort was afraid of the old man, why shouldn't everyone be?

* * *

**I didn't like writing the Potters deaths but I felt like they went out too quietly in canon, in this they made Voldemort earn it proving _why_ they'd 'Defied him thrice' and whatnot. Anyway hope you all liked this one, please as always, REVIEW! Oh and yeah next chapter will be way longer, mostly because it doesn't involve quiditch which automatically saps my desire to write, fuck why can't it be as interesting as football? Ugh...**


	43. I Sigh, When Sociopaths Learn To Cry

**-Special thanks to ****ChelseaFCBlues for getting my ass in gear and publishing ANYTHING for my story since it's been almost a month, blood hell... anyway...**

**I was hurt at work and its effectively ruined my ability to write, I'm left hand dominant and that's what was hurt, I can't use pens, I can't type, I can't even use the internet for its primary usage...I wrote this out of my thanks for all of you who still read this story, hopefully my hand heals up soon enough to write a true chapter. As always, read and please REVIEW! Not digging for sympathy, just want opinions, nighters all!**

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The first thing to penetrate Lillith's clouded senses was the sound of birds chirping, as she cracked her weary eyes open she blinked rapidly in an attempt to get her brain to absorb what she was seeing. Turning her head left and right she concluded that her back was to a tree that was in the center of a massive meadow, tall sweet grass and wildflowers swaying in the wind her only other companions.

Grunting as she took to her feet she groaned as a throbbing pulse pressed at the inside of her skull, rubbing the heels of her hands into her temples she fell back against the tree trying to make sense out of this turn of events. Taking in several deep breaths she eventually gathered enough of her wits to kick off the tree and wander outside of its wide shadow; stepping into the sun she looked about while shielding her eyes, a thoroughly unimpressed frown marring her beautiful features.

The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, the air smelled of sweetness and pollen, thus there was only one mature response to it all.

"Oh what fresh Hell is this?" There was a dry laugh behind her and she spun to meet Tom's glacial blue eyes, the intensity of their inner light catching her by surprise eliciting a small gasp, "Tom!" He had taken the form of his sixteen year old self and upon glancing down she realized her current visage echoed his.

"Hello love, it's a bit...fluffy...but after that foray into Dementor assisted mental trauma I figured it was a better choice then our library," he frowned as the lithe teen before him furrowed her brows and marched towards him. Stopping less then a foot before her first friend she stared at him a moment before her hand lashed out sending a resounding crack through the meadow.

Tom worked his jaw for a few seconds as his hand raised to feel the burning imprint on his cheek, running his tongue along his gums he spat a bit of blood on the ground before turning his frozen gaze to Lillith's burning green infernos. "I'm sorry," it was the only thing he could think to say, after a moment the teenage girl pulled him into a tight hug that he quickly returned, after a time Lillith released one arm and pulled herself to his side as they both slid down the tree's trunk.

In the amiable silence that followed she eventually spoke her mind, "Why did my mother stay and fight? Why didn't she run as my father held you off?" Tom dropped his face to the crown of her head and inhaled the blackberry and vanilla scent of Lillith's hair before replying.

"Your mother was borderline insane, I don't mean that as an insult love, she toed the thin line between crazy and genius in a manner that none other could. The fact of the matter was she understood how Lord Voldemort thought, and knew running was pointless." Lilly cuddled into his side further causing his throat to tighten before she replied,

"You say that as if you don't think like him anymore," swallowing the thickness forming he quickly replied,

"I do not, my little flower, I was an idiot, I attempted to make a horcrux at the age of sixteen and missed several steps in the process. I was supposed to snap a fragment of my soul off to store in an artefact, a bit that would eventually regrow itself, Myrtle's unplanned and unlamented death instead cracked my soul in half."

Tom grimaced at this as he shook his head, "The day after my first Horcruxes creation the Knights of Walpurgis died and the Death Eaters were born, being free of my insanity, being part of _you_? No, I don't think like Voldemort does, not anymore."

Lilly reached over and clasped his hand in hers as she ran her thumb across his skin, Tom's breath stilled a moment before he continued, "As to why your mother didn't run she realized Voldemort would not have attacked without layering a series of anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards around the village. Effectively, if she jumped out of the window with you-"

Lilly sighed and nodded into the crook of his neck, "She'd have just been shot in the back, so she stuck with the backup plan and an attempt to end it herself," he smirked at at this as he nodded, the gesture growing into an honest wry grin.

"She almost had me too, your mum and dad were vicious my Little Flower, they earned their place in whatever pantheon they believed in." Lilly nodded once again as she released his hand and stood, staring down at the young man she grinned the grin meant only for him before she replied,

"Thanks Tom, I don't know what I'd do without you, I feel them pulling me back into the real world, I'll talk to you later, Ok?" Before he could respond she disappeared in a flash, sighing Tom stood as the meadow vanished and he found his himself standing in his library once again. Running his hands through his coal black hair he stared to the ceiling as he whispered to no one,

"I love you, Lillith Dorea Potter, and I have no idea what to do about it."

* * *

Lilly gasped as her consciousness fully assimilated the fact that she was alive, cracking her eyes open she found herself staring into the caring yet stern gaze of an all too familiar woman,

"Poppy, we have _got_ to stop meeting like this," the elderly matron chuckled as she playfully patted the young witches arm,

"None of that cheek little miss, _I'm_ not the one who's constantly getting herself hurt with daring heroics, that being said you're in good health, and I dare say there are some who wish to confirm that themselves."

Turning her head to the left Lilly's eyes widened as she was engulfed in a massive technicolor multi-house hug the likes of which hadn't been seen in decades. As the dozen students from every house began chattering at her at once she soon found her limp left hand hanging off the bed silently engulfed in the grasp of a smirking brunette. Returning her girlfriends smile as she looked upon her gathered friends Lilly blushed lightly as she spoke above them all,

"Thank you...thank you for caring..."


	44. Time Flies When Snogging A Bookworm

**SO! News, I hate this year, as in third year, Prisoner was my second favorite book but I keep finding myself stalling over and over and over due to the major plot component being a none factor. So I'm taking several readers suggestions and I'm skipping ahead, alot, I mean ALOT. **

**Am I afraid I'm going to lose readers jumping to damn near the end of the term with this? A bit. Do I think I'll easily make it up with fourth year since Goblet of Fire was my personal favorite book? Hell yeah. To all of you who got me to finally just throw in the towel and admit "I can't do anything with this, moving on," thank you, you know who you are.**

**IMPORTANT IMPORTANT-Not setting up a vote I'd just like you guys to throw your opinions in your reviews, so two major questions:**

**1.) What would you like Lilly's patronus to be? Me, I'm leaning towards Prongs due to her vision or a Raven because well...it's Lilly, I'm looking forward to hearing your responses and reasoning**

**2.) Where would you like to see 'Dora take Lilly and Hermione on vacation before the quiditch world cup? I am open to a slight crossover of various anime and the such if I'm enticed with good enough reasoning.**

**No I'm not shirking my responsibility as an author, as far as I'm concerned this story is as much all of yours as it is mine, it's a work of love and patience that would never have come as far as it has without your input. So consider my asking what you'd like to see as my 'Thank you' to you all.**

**THAT was a mouthful, next chapter will END third year and actually get this story back on track, so until then, please enjoy and REVIEW!**

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'The more things change the more they stay the same,' is a rather over used proverb that Lilly just could not help attaching to the Ministry of Magics current actions, or rather their complete and utter lack there of. A competent administration would undoubtedly investigate _why_ their pet horde of soul devouring demons found it necessary to swoop down on the unsuspecting youth of magical Britain, sadly expecting competency from Fudge and his cronies was wishful thinking at best.

So, with absolutely no resolution to the Dementor presence despite the Headmaster's rather vocal insistence Lilly decided to do what she should have from the beginning, namely putting matters into her own hands. While her nacsent power base could potentially push the point she wasn't going to waste her carefully collected connections on something like this, instead she was going to cut straight through the matter.

It was time to ask her dad to teach her how to kill demons.

Approaching Professor Snape's office door she gently pushed it open and saw her dad pinching the bridge of his nose as he graded papers, she did not fail to notice the half empty bottle of single malt whiskey next to his coffee cup. Lilly frowned at that, she'd known her dad fortified his coffee and tea for years, stress relief that she could honestly understand but she still worried about his health. Deciding to leave it for now since he hadn't even _begun_ to approach Sirius's level of functional alcoholism she cleared her throat causing him to glance up, the often taciturn man smiling fondly upon seeing his daughter.

"Miss Potter, please come in," closing the door behind her she hopped in the chair facing him then crossed her arms across the desk to let her chin land in their folded embrace. Tilting his head allowing a single brow to raise he continued, "Not that I mind visits from my favorite witch but is there something you need dearest? As you can see-" he spread his hands out to indicate the various stacks of parchment, "I have quite a bit of grading to get through."

Sitting up she folded her legs underneath herself then nodded, "It's Hogsmead Weekend."

His response was touched with a bit of dry wryness, "Do tell, and what does that have to do with this visit?"

Her return smile could only be described as impish, "I was grounded for placing that evil bint at Saint Mungo's under the imperius curse, remember?" Severus scoffed at that as he rolled his eyes, taking a sip from his mug and wincing he added a bit more coffee to the mix before taking another taste.

Nodding in approval he drained the mug and placed it back on the desk before he drawled out his response, "Obviously I did not remember it so there must be a reason you came here, what is it?"

She pouted at that which only caused her dad to smile fondly once again, "Fine, you got me, there's two reasons, primarily I want you to teach me how to cast the patronus charm so I can kill Dementors, likely lethifolds too. Considering my luck at this school so far I wouldn't be shocked if at some point I had to deal with sphinxes and chimeras, or possibly jaunts to the bottom of the Black Lake, why not right?"

Severus winced at this as he began stroking his chin, "Don't joke dear, with this madhouse we can never be too sure what is around the corner."

Lilly nodded her understanding before continuing, "Second reason, I'm pretty sure Draco wanted to ask me on a date and well...that would get awkward what with the whole...secret relationship thing..."

Severus snorted at that while rolling his eyes, "Maybe he'll get his chance, you are only thirteen after all and while I am fond of Hermione your unconventional relationship is going to be a source of turmoil for quite some time."

Lilly huffed at that as she let her head fall back on the seats rest, "Don't I know it, anyway, can you teach me?"

Smiling lightly he picked up his wand and stood from the desk motioning towards the door as he began moving along, "But of course, we'll use the empty classroom down the hall." As it ended up, learning a spell that she couldn't _cheat_ her way through was actually incredibly difficult, and she was sure to make her irritation known to her first friend.

"_Tom how could you possibly never have mastered this spell?"_ As she followed her dad's instructions on the proper wand movements the slightly irritated voice in her head replied in kind.

"_Love the patronus charm requires a happy memory to fuel it, I had none to supply until I met you." _She actually started at this admission screwing up her cast earning a slight admonishment from the Potions Master who quickly urged her to try again.

Feeling a bit pensive she tried to focus on her work as she hesitantly asked for clarification, _"Tom, what do you mean until you met me? Do I give you happy memories?" _

There was a pause before the older man slowly replied, "_Lilly, the only time I've ever been happy was when I was with you, without you, I am nothing." _Blushing brightly at this admission she quickly accepted her dads reassurances that she didn't need to get embarrassed over her early failures, obviously having no reason to believe the red in her cheeks was caused by something else.

"_Oh,"_ was her only reply.

Her lessons on the patronus charm continued until the winter hols approached and she quickly decided to accept her Aunt Andi's offer to stay at the Tonks home for the duration. It wasn't like she needed an excuse to stay with family but as much time as she could spend away from the dementors the better off she'd be. As it stood she had a wonderful time and thankfully both she and her girlfriend had agreed that extravagant gifts were not their thing so they'd simply gifted each other with new books.

Upon her return to Hogwarts the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, the only real change to the rhythm had been Professor Trelawney taking a drunken tumble down her tower stairs and ending up in a coma. Hermione and Lilly dropped divination the next day.

Oddly enough the end of term approached at breakneck speed and Lilly could honestly say she had no idea where the time went; between studying with Hermione, snogging with Hermione, and violating the space time continuum with Hermione her days were truly well packed.

This lovely little soap bubble of peace was popped one evening in June when Marcus Flint knocked on her dorm rooms door frame, sticking his head in he caught Lilly's eye and did his best not to stare at her applying sparkling green nail polish to her toes.

"Lils, those ginger menaces are at the common room door looking for you."

Glancing up at her team captain as her brows furrowed the raven haired teen nodded quickly as she sealed the bottle and quickly cast a drying charm on her feet, sliding on socks and a pair of black Chucks she was tailed by Hermione as she made her way to the door in question.

As it slid aside Fred and George were both standing there looking somber, in their hands was something she'd thought she'd never get to see, "Hey that's the Marauders Map! Moony and Padfoot thought it was lost when-" Fred cut her off with a quick motion as he tapped a single name slowly making its way through the halls. Lilly's eyes bugged out and she quickly exchanged glances with Hermione, as one the pair of witches grabbed a twin a piece and rushed towards their head of houses office.

Not bothering to knock Lilly snatched the map from George as she stormed into the room, as luck would have it her dad was having tea with Auntie Bella and Uncle Remus, skipping pleasantries she slammed the map on the desk and pointed at the name.

Dead silence was soon broken as Uncle Remus let out a rumbling growl, "Wormtail."

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**Finally, finally, guys no shit I rewrote this chapter, deleted it, started from scratch, and rewrote it again over two dozen times, no hyperbole here. I am so glad that we're finally moving this along you have no idea...well anyway as soon as I hear some feedback on the Patronus thing I'll begin writing an actual full length chapter, until then TAKE CARE!**


	45. And It All Comes Together

**So yeah, asked my friend and she said that you'd all appreciate an update even though it's only half of the planned chapter since I can't finish it this weekend, hope you all are ok with that.**

**This weeks suggested reading: ProfessorScrooge's Call Me Moriarty, a fem Harry that borrows some elements from other fem!Harry stories but with the rather delicious twist of the young hero to be taking up the mantle of her favorite literary villain. She proceeds to build a criminal empire while at the same time as guiding her love interest Hermione into taking on the role of Holmes, it in all honesty is quite the yarn if you are into sociopathic main characters, which I obviously am.**

**Anyway, as always, please REVIEW!**

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Chaos was an amusing bedfellow when you plan for it, oxymoron not withstanding; as it stood it was a monumental burden when you were on its receiving end and rather quickly dismissed itself from the realm of 'fun'. This not fun form of chaos was why one Lillith Potter's plans for the rest of the term (which happened to entail convincing her pet Malfoy that Klingons were a legitimate threat to wizarding kind) were dashed to in turn hunt for a duplicitous rat.

A rat she had already given a chance to run that had apparently been ignored, more the pity on him really, Lady Slytherin had very little patience for those that bucked against her rule. Sighing as she sprinted down the halls of Hogwarts Lilly exchanged a glance with her girlfriend and shook her head in exasperation as she tried to keep pace with her enraged werewolf uncle.

To say that Uncle Remus hadn't taken the sighting of Wormtail well would be a _very_ understated declaration, why she'd gone to her dad rather than him to begin with really. Sometimes, alot of times, you just know how a Gryffindor is going to react to a situation that angers them and you do your best to mitigate the eventual fallout, alas she'd been too focused to fully comprehend what the Potion Master's guest would do upon the revelation.

Namely, yell at his wife to contact Dumbledore and take off sprinting as he snatched the map off the desk, it was only thanks to years of training and the judicious usage of their animagus forms that Lillith and Hermione managed to keep up with the man. A man now sporting enlarged canines and glowing gold eyes mind you, Moony was far too close to the surface for the young Heiress's liking, thank the Morrigan that Auntie Bella forced his wolfsbane potion down his throat daily when the full moon approached.

As the DADA professor slammed the doors to the Hogwarts grounds open he took off at a full on sprint that neither girl had any hope of meeting, sighing yet again Lillith morphed back into Quill as Hermione simultaneously shifted into Kitsune to regain their lost ground. Eventually the Whomping Willow came into view and Lilly immediately shifted back into her teenage girl form, coming to a stop just out of reach of the violent tree.

Gritting her teeth she jumped a bit as the fox beside her nipped her exposed calf lightly, right, she'd gone out to a potential fight in her bloody schoolgirl uniform, lovely.

Sighing she stroked Kitsune's ears affectionately before glancing back to the tree as Uncle Remus absently slammed his fist into the knot that pacified the bludgeoning foliage for a short time.

Kitsune shifted back into Hermione as she gently pulled her girlfriends hand, "Come on love its not going to swat you out of the air now, unless you don't want to help your Uncle?" Lilly's eyes narrowed knowing perfectly well she was being played, and sadly played well; sighing for what felt like the twelfth time in the past hour she followed the brunette through the dirty tunnel and came to an abrupt stop behind her uncle.

He was just inside the door frame to the shrieking shack and seemed to be stunned into inaction by the sight before him, both girls stepped around him and found themselves in a similar predicament.

The room was immaculate, the walls papered, the floors carpeted, a crystal chandalier hanging from the ceiling under which sat a comfortable plush chair and a large table holding several flutes of wine. Sitting in the chair was a handsome middle aged wizard in an expensive charcoal gray suit sporting a red and gold tie; sipping on his own flute of wine he jauntily saluted the newcomers with the glass as he swallowed the expensive drink.

"Moony, good to see you old bean! And little Lillith, my how you've grown since Samhain, you are blossoming into a beauty that will soon put your mother to shame!" Shifting his gaze to Hermione his blue eyes narrowed slightly as he nodded to her, "And this must be the witch that stole your heart, Miss Granger was it not?"

All three jerked back in shock at that as he rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Please I was a spy that my own best friends never even suspected, I have my ways, regardless good on you for finding love just remember you _are_ only thirteen my dear niece. I'm not saying I don't approve but explore all your options before you settle down, James and Lily certainly did and it only made them closer after all."

At this Remus finally seemed to regain his senses as a low growl escaped his lips, "You betrayed Prongs! You betrayed Lily! You betrayed us all, and for what!?"

Sighing Peter glanced towards Lilly who looked a bit sheepish at the appraisal, "You didn't tell him about our meeting did you?" Both Hermione and Remus spun to stare at the green eyed girl and she seemed to shrink a bit under their shared glares, rubbing the back of her head she shrugged lightly trying not to meet anyone's gaze.

"I didn't tell anyone, I'm not sure about 'Dora but I really didn't know what to say, 'Hey I met the bloke who betrayed my parents which led directly to me being tossed into a home housing child molesters and I forgave him regardless' doesn't really roll off the tongue does it?"

While her Uncle and girlfriend stared at her incredulously Peter's eyes began glowing with rage, "You were molested?" His words were frosty and laced with an underlying power that Lilly couldn't place, as she tried to process this reaction Remus decided to twist the knife in his former friend regardless of what it would do to his niece.

"No Peter, she was raped, at the age of six," shooting her Uncle with a betrayed glare she turned back to Peter who seemed to deflate some at this revelation, pinching the bridge of his nose he shook his head slowly as he tried to gather his thoughts.

Turning back to Lilly he stared at her with troubled eyes before sighing lightly, "I am so sorry that you had to endure that my dear, but endure it you did... what happened to the muggle?"

Lilly, despite all her training could not suppress the self satisfied smirk that curled up her lips as she replied, "Died in a fire, quite the tragedy."

Peter smiled coldly in return, "Couldn't have happened to a better person." Turning back to Remus he finished his glass of wine and turned to refill it, "Please help yourselves, the manor home I've been staying in has an entire cellar filled with this vintage, apparently 1886 was a good year." Despite herself Lilly...trusted Pettigrew, she had no bloody idea why, so she stepped past her uncle and ejected her mother's wand from her wrist holster and quickly scanned one of the offered glasses.

Coming back clean she picked it up, sniffed the bouquet and took a sip before groaning to herself, Peter nodded knowingly at her reaction, "Exquisite is it not? Anyway, you three are probably wondering why I drew you out here, and no, while I am good I'm not _that_ good to know we'd be meeting tonight. Have had this set up for a few months now, only the wine is a recent addition."

As he spoke Hermione sidled up next to her girlfriend and narrowed her eyes slightly as she appraised the man, mirroring Lilly's actions she took a flute of wine and sipped it before gasping which only had Peter grinning wider.

Remus had enough of the pleasantries though and quickly broke the mood, "_WHAT_. Are. You. Doing. Here. Wormtail." Each word was sharp and overly enunciated signifying the mans building anger, sighing Peter stood and placed his glass on the table, standing behind the chair he began pacing slowly.

Gathering his thoughts a moment he eventually nodded to himself, "You see the Dark Mark is not...well it is not a simple tattoo, sure sure the idiots I sent to get slaughtered at the Hogwarts Express crash were given a half-arsed muggle tattoo to satisfy the Aurors but they weren't _real_ Marks."

Tom nodded knowingly at this, "_Quite so, only my inner council and trusted spies had a real Dark Mark, it would have been idiocy in the extreme to waste that kind of magic on cannon fodder."_ Lilly blinked at this revelation, that had actually been news to her, after all this was over she'd have to interrogate her first friend, but for the time being she tuned back into the slightly insane wizards monologue.

"Snape, Malfoy, Rookwood, LeStrange, the younger not the elder mind you, were all given a special brand that gave them a bit of leeway, they were the schemers, the thinkers, the planners, and any sort of compulsion on them would hinder their abilities." Smiling as he shook his head he stopped and folded his arms behind his back before facing them directly, "The rest of us were not so lucky you see."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with _that_ tone of voice, the one were she was being presented with new information to feed her insatiable pursuit of knowledge, luckily for her Peter was in the mood to be chatty.

"The rest of us were...well we could not be trusted to remain loyal, so the Dark Marks compel us to be loyal to the Dark Lord regardless of our own personal desires, it's why I hid with the Weasleys actually. The wards around the Burrow were strong enough to suppress the compulsion and so are those around Hogwarts, if I had remained undiscovered I could have lived out my life comfortably, regardless of the indignity, as a pet rat."

"Shit," Remus stated flatly as he cocked his head slightly, "Here we thought you were pedophile."

Peter's face twisted into disgust as he rolled his eyes at his former friend, "Love you too Moony, anyway we do not have access to any wards of that power, sadly erecting such powerful enchants ourselves would alert the ministry to our presence and thus we've all been exposed to the Marks influence for quite some time."

Turning back to Lillith he nodded to her once as dawning comprehension caused her eyes to widen dramatically, "You understand now my dear, the Dark Lord will soon rise again, and every ritual Rookwood has found to pull it off requires a very special ingredient."

Lillith felt like her knees were going to buckle under the mans gaze, leaning against Hermione she had to resist the urge to whimper as she whispered, "Me..." Nodding slowly he actually looked pleased when Hermione stood before her girlfriend wand pointing at his chest.

"You can't have her!" She spat out, Peter tilted his head ever so slightly to her and then to Remus as he mirrored the teens actions, all the while he made no motions of reaching for his own weapon.

"Nor do I want to take her, as I said it is a compulsion but it can be worked around, regardless of that there are no finalized plans, I simply wished to give my dear niece a warning." All signs of joviality vanished as his eyes hardened, "The Dark Lords servants will be coming for you sometime in the next year, do be careful dear."

As he said this a chilling cold began permeating the ancient shack, the glamours that Peter had erected faded exposing the rooms true destitute state as all the buildings occupants shuddered in the now frosty enclosure.

"Merlin damn it all," Peter muttered as he glanced towards the window now covered in a latticework of ice crystals, "I'd hoped to have more time then this, well, regardless I've said my piece, good day all!" With that he shifted into his rat form and before anyone could react he bolted through a hole in the wall.

Remus, losing all pretenses of control roared out, "WORMTAIL!" as he slammed the door open in pursuit, both girls screaming for him to stop to no avail. The pair rushed after him to only find him on his knees, the exposed moonlight washing over his body causing him to shift into Moony as clouds of Dementors circled above their heads.

"Oh you have _GOT_ to be fucking kidding me!" Lilly all but bellowed, to her credit, Hermione saw no need to correct the younger witch, although her quietly muttered 'Bugger me' would have made any chiding on her part a bit hypocritical.

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**A cliffy, I am a very evil writer I know, stay tuned more is on the horizon! **


	46. And It All Comes Together Pt 2

**Writers block is a horrid thing, please review.**

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Lillith hesitated for only a moment before her Fae wand fell from her forearm holster with a short jerk of her wrist, the powerful focei twirling between her fingers she spun and screamed "STUPEFY!" The over powered stunner slammed into Moony sending the partially transformed werewolf flying past the cloud of dementors and more importantly out of her warpath.

She wasn't worried about her uncle at all, dementors ignored 'dark creatures' and this deep into his transformation they wouldn't pay him the slightest attention regardless. Grabbing her girlfriends hand Lilly pulled the older witch behind her and the moment she re-entered the shrieking shack she slammed the door shut and cast the most powerful locking charm she knew.

A moment later splinters flew from the frame as the ancient soul vampires beat the door in, fueled by a hunger induced rage.

"Shite shite shite! Hermione!" Her vulgar and fear laced words snapped the genius from her own terrified stupor as the raven haired teen shook her none too gently, "I need you to carve a sealing rune, the strongest one you know!" Staring at her best friend in confusion Hermione flinched when she was gently slapped, "NOW!"

Nodding and despite being confused beyond words Hermione pulled her dagger from her belt and began carving the intricate runes into the dusty floor. Lillith pulled her mothers wand out in her off hand and shakily stated "Expecto Patronum." The white mist that sprayed from her wands tip was enough to keep a small area around the pair clear from the dementors aura, but it wasn't nearly enough to frighten away the demons.

"Why am I doing this?" Hermione asked as she shakily continued carving the sealing rune as fast as she could manage, and if her girlfriends frantic foot tapping was any indication it wasn't nearly fast enough.

Lilly shifted her gaze from the nearly buckled front door to Hermione for the briefest of moments, both witches wishing she had been wearing her blackout glasses at that time. Lilly so she wouldn't be so obviously broadcasting her fear, and for Hermione so she wouldn't come to the startling realization her girlfriend was just as terrified as she was.

"I need an anchor to make sure the Demon I summon doesn't make it to the castle," finishing the carving just as Lillith stopped speaking Hermione stood up and gasped in shock at this statement.

"Demon summoning?! Lilly what are-!?" She was cut off as the raven haired girl pulled her into a searing kiss, their tongues danced together a moment and the weak spray of white light from Lilly's wand momentarily brightened. Breaking the embrace Lilly stepped back and smirked lightly as she pushed Hermione through the door leading to the exit underneath the Whomping Willow.

"I love you, Hermione Granger." With that Lilly slammed the door shut and cast the same locking charm she had earlier, turning as the front door shattered Lillith grinned bringing her left hand to her mouth biting her forefinger deeply. Feeling her lifes blood running across her lips she allowed the droplets to spill on the floor as she began chanting.

"The Blood of the Morrigan Flows Through My Veins, My Soul was sealed to Keep Me Sane, Wrapping My Sins in Silk and Ice, I Shall Reave What is Owed Me Three Times Thrice..." The dementors rushing into the room stopped dead in their floating tracks as they stared down the small teenager before them, her glowing eyes highlighting the terrifying grin curling past her blood stained lips.

"Hello boys, _Phobos_ _Fiendfyre._"

* * *

A conflagration. _That_ is what Severus saw as he rushed beside the Headmaster and the incredibly pregnant Bellatrix Lupin. Rather ironically she'd been meeting with him to discuss potions to induce her labor since she was two weeks behind when Lilly had rushed into the room. After this? Well he'd be shocked if there wasn't a new Black in the morning.

"By Merlin what is _that_?!" Albus stated this as a massive hunched over form spread its burning wings screaming its fury to the heavens above, the horrifying creature casting unholy shadows as its violet and black flamed body flexed whilst spinning a massive glaive about its self. Ah well, at least the shrieking shack was burnt down, he rather hoped it would stay that way.

"Oh my, a class 9 rage demon, Little Viper what have you done now?" Neither man commented on the witch's whispered comment as the crime against nature itself swung its weapon at the clouds of dementors. Much to all of their surprise the alien being barely phased the creatures, its massive weapon doing little other then sending the monsters flying.

Contrary to what they believed should happen the dementors began charging the beast, it roared in rage as it attempted to fend them off but nothing happened when its massive weapon cleaved through their bodies. After a time the dementors widdled the creature down to a wisp of cinders and violet flames, a moment later it vanished with a whimper leaving nothing but ash in its wake.

The trio rushed towards the swarm of demons, the three professors should have been enough to at least fend the Dementors off for a time when suddenly time stopped. Severus saw his little girl stand from the shattered and burnt ruins surrounding her and met her tear stained eyes as she pointed her wand towards the sky.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Suddenly, all Severus Snape could see was blinding, beautiful light.

* * *

It hadn't worked. Lilly had attempted to summon the most terrifying and brutal demon she could think of to fend off the dementors and it had done _nothing_ but slow them down for a few moments. As the ancient being died and the anchor Hermione had cast shattered Lilly could do nothing but stare up at the surrounding cloud of soul vampires.

She briefly lamented the fact that she left her time turner in her trunk after the days lessons, it would have _really_ helped at the moment.

Sighing she belatedly realized that this was the end. She was about to have her very essence, her soul, devoured, condemned to an eternity of suffering because the magical world was run by an idiot. Who was she kidding? Really wizarding kinds customs aside this world was so backwards and straight out retarded it didn't deserve to survive, and she was just as guilty as anyone for supporting it.

Cinders of her fallen demon drifting about her Lilly stood to meet her fate when she turned to meet the gaze of her dad. Beside him was the King Meddler himself and her incredibly pregnant Auntie Bella, all three had tears running down their cheeks as they rushed toward her.

Why?

It made no sense, why were they risking themselves for her? The dementors would take what they wanted and leave them be, it was their nature to flee the scene of their crimes after all. It took a heartbeat for her to realize why they were here.

Auntie Bella was risking her unborn son to save her soul. Daddy was risking his own life to keep her safe. Even Dumbledore who she...thought... she despised was drawing his wand in an attempt to save her.

Was she worth it? Was she, Lillith Dorea Potter worth so many people risking what made them..._them_ to save her?

_"You're worth it love, you're worth a thousand Bellatrix's, a thousand thousand Snapes, and a thousand million Dumbledore's. You. Are. Worth. It."_ Focusing on Tom for the briefest of moments Lilly shook her head in confusion.

_"Why do you say that Tom?_" He seemed to quiver in place before finally responding.

_"Because, I could not be so madly in love with a woman who wasn't worth the effort."_ Time stopped. Lilly stared inwardly in shock at this admission, Tom was in love with her. Her. Crazy, sociopathic Lilly Potter, the girl he'd gone out of his way to attempt to murder as toddler. Her dad loved her. Hermione loved her. Tom loved her. She...was loved...she would be missed... She needed to survive. Looking up her Fae wand seemed to point to sky on its own accord as she roared her defiance to the heavens above.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" It wasn't just her voice that bellowed out, she felt a warm pair of arms wrap around her body and grip her hands gently, and while she couldn't see him she felt his rage pulse through her very being. Tom had finally found what made him truly happy, now that he did not have to fear the one he loved's rejection he could rejoice. Unfortunately for the demons surrounding them, there was a price to pay for that new found joy.

A massive basilisk flew from her wand surrounded by a flock of ravens, the giant serpent's jaws snapped around a dementor tearing it to shreds, golden orbs Lilly could only assume were consumed souls spilling from its guts as it screamed in agony. Her ravens in turn made up for their small size by diving into the demons mouths, after a moment the effected dementors inflated and popped liked over ripe fruit.

This all happened in the span of seconds, it was terrifyingly poignant. As the massive basilisk and flock of ravens spun about her they brought the largest and only surviving dementor to its knees. It lifted its cowled head to meet Lillys glowing eyes before dropping it gaze in submission.

"Do you acknowledge me as being stronger than you?" The demon remained frozen for a few moments before nodding. "Will you submit to my orders?" It remained stationary before nodding once again. Lilly smirked and reached out with her still bleeding left hand and patted the demon on its shoulder, "Excellent, I believe I shall call you...Mister Inky...now go, and harm no innocents, I will call upon you soon."

With this the dementor took off to the skies and Lilly spun to meet the group of adults who had just met up with her irate girlfriend. All told, today had been interesting, she found out her first friend was in love with her, poorly anchored demons couldn't do shit to properly anchored demons, and she now needed to find a pink colored magical creature to warp to her will to keep up with her Pac-Man theme.

There was only really one way to greet the approaching group.

"Daddy! I need a holiday!" With that her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out, not for the first time lamenting the fact she was probably going to wake up in Poppy's not so tender care.

* * *

**EDIT-Shit I forgot, I'm posting a Q/A for the next chapter, you guys ask anything and I'll have the characters answer it while remaining in...well..character. It should be fun! So place your questions in your reviews and I'll have a response written up in a few days.**


	47. QA and ALMOST done with Third Year!

**FINALLY! Up till today I only had one person ask a question for my Q/A attempt, now it's two and ****setokayba2n asked _alot_ of questions so I guess it makes up for it. Aside from that if you're wondering what has made this such a long term silence well, Dumbledore did it.**

**No. Really. Every single story where I have to write from his perspective is a pain in the ass because I have to get into the head of a senile light wizard who is just too old to deal with the reality of the real world at this point. Why I'm rather looking forward to his interactions with Iris in 'Red Mage, Looking For Group'. Writing a straight out Machiavellian heartless bastard is soooo much easier, and it'll be fun since Iris is a pure innocent untainted soul and Dudley is such a weary and over protective big brother who doesn't trust _any_ male near his little sister.**

**Regardless, on to the Q/A!**

* * *

**A dimly lit room housing several chairs plays host to many of our favorite characters, in the center sits a tall broad shouldered man, leafing through several papers the hazel eyed writer glances up at his arriving guests.**

**"Yes yes, Lilly, Severus, Hermione, Tom, ...Albus, all right lets get this show on the road!" The new arrivals seem apprehensive but Nemesis really doesn't care, he's bored and wants to get back to writing other stories his caffeine infused mind is obsessing on so it is just best to get this over with.**

**Coughing he glances back down to the paperwork and turns to the two teenage witches and the dour wizard sitting beside them, "So, LooneySlytherin asks _'After Tom's latest confession would either of you consider a triad relationship and if so how would this work and would possible feelings stem between Hermione and Tom as well?'_**

**Hermione blushes deeply while Tom and Lilly shoot each other looks, eventually the Dark Lady in training speaks up to if nothing else get this this moving on.**

**"Err...the thing is...yeah...I wouldn't be bothered by it," Hermione stills at this and shoots her girlfriend a poisonous look.**

**"LILLY! How could you think such a thing would be acceptable?"**

**The witch in question shrugged, "Eh, I'm emotionally damaged and I honestly had no interest in relationships to begin with until you admitted you loved me. I really thought my love life was going to entail marrying a rich Pure-blood, popping out a kid, murdering my husband, and using his resources to take over Europe. Having you and Tom as my lovers? I can actually say I find that preferable."**

**While Hermione openly gaped at this admission Tom just laughed, "And that admission is why I love this woman, both heartwarming and heartless all in the same moment." Nemesis just sighs realizing Hermione was going to be silent for the time being and he was steadily getting more bored with this. Silently wondering if his Gameboy Micro had recharged enough to get back to his Final Fantasy grind he shook his head to focus.**

**"Right," he began, "Anyway, these are all from setokayba2n since no one else seemed to actually have questions, so they ask Severus "We know what you think of Dumbledore, did you not think to put a poison in his lovely lemon drops to make him die from a hearth attack? After all you are the expert in potions so you could make a potion for him"**

**The taciturn potion master turned to the now grumpy old man beside him before replying in a silky smooth tone, "There is legal documentation pointing directly towards my guardianship of Lillith. All it would take to make me the primary suspect would be to rip into the records hall and my resume. If I were to be honest if I wanted to look blameless for Albus's death I should just shoot him in the back since wizards don't really bother with forensics, although I plan on giving Lilly my Hi-Power at the beginning of her fourth year regardless so that's not an option."**

**Lilly perked up at that, "Really daddy!?"**

**Severus smiled indulgently as he nodded once, "Of course dear, you have Death Eaters after your blood now, literally, and that _is_ why Nemesis had me keep a muggle artefact upon my person to begin with isn't it?"**

**Pushing his glasses up his nose the writer nodded once, "Eh, yeah, I wanted Lilly to have weapons that wizards wouldn't expect but I wanted them to mean something, anyway moving on. Lets see... this ones for Lilly, "When you leave hogwarts, how exactly do you plan to take the world? The way of Voldemort? Or you are going to be a little more slytherin? You have after all many members of the wizenmagot in your thumb and also future members?"**

**Lilly snorted at that while rolling her eyes, "I _already_ took over the Wizengamot before I _went_ to Hogwarts, Sirius has allied the neutral families behind him, Remus has kept the light families in check in my stead, and Uncle Lucius has control of the dark families. I don't bother with any of that in my day to day to life because while I _am_ brilliant, I defer to experience. Once I graduate and make myself a political icon through my contacts, a sports icon through my Quiditch skills, and an economic icon through Sally-Anne and Auntie Bella's inventions I'll branch out to the rest of Europe.**

**"As for the rest of the world well, I plan on ignoring China for the time being since their magical government is the oldest standing governing body in the world and has no interest in muggle affairs and they frankly scare the shit out of me. I fully intend on dropping a bioengineered plague on North America destroying the yanks ability to grow food and then invade with an armada of airships but Sally is still designing them so it'll be at least ten years before that happens. She already has the plague though, she was bored and had a free weekend."**

**Nemesis stared at Lilly a moment before rubbing his temples and speaking again, "Right, Hermione this one is for you, "You love Lilly but what do you think is her best quality of all?"**

**Hermione worried her lip a bit then nodded, "Lilly's best quality is her oblivious outlook on love."**

**Quirking a brow her girlfriend drawled out, "Come again?"**

**Hermione smirked while winking coyly, "We aren't quite ready for that, but what I mean is her lack of understanding on the subject matter makes her feelings all that more obvious. She doesn't obfuscate her feelings because she doesn't understand what she is feeling, yes while it's horrible that she is that emotionally damaged the simple fact that once you worm your way into her inner circle she is physically incapable of hiding the fact shes love you, it's endearing."**

**Scratching his nose lightly Nemesis shrugged lightly in turn, "Oooookay... kinda creepy but hey whatever, moving on." Staring at the question he sighed in annoyance, "Lilly this was meant for you but I'm fielding it, 'You summoned a class 9 demon but that did not work, did you hear about "Crowley"? Maybe a human demon could helped a little'. Crowley is going to make an appearance in fourth year, specifically Lilly is going to summon the King of the Crossroads to take a look at the contract the Goblet of Fire produces. Shenanigans shall ensue, I am not spoiling anything else."**

**Riffling through his papers and skipping over a few questions that will interfere with the plot Nemesis finally finds a viable one, "Albus here's one for you, 'How can you manage to hide everything? I mean, Death Eaters attack your train, Acromuntulas attack your students (And even if their parents have been obliviated, surely other students could be their friends and ask about that, not to say people living around)'**

**The ancient wizard lets out a tired sigh before responding, "As much as it pains me to admit this I haven't _had_ to hide much of anything, I report everything to the Ministry being fully aware that gossiping children will not keep quiet about the chaos interfering with their normal lives. And, contrary to popular belief it is incredibly difficult to obliviate _hundreds_ of students at once, simply put, the politicians do the dirty work for me without any interference on my part because they want to keep their jobs. As much as people would like to think me a Machiavellian monster most of the insanity that happens in our world is simply wizards being wizards."**

**Nemesis shakes his head at this while turning back to his papers, " Lessee...Tom! What do you think about nukes?"**

**The dark haired man tilted his head to the side a moment before shrugging, "Amusingly destructive, the fallout isn't so much, Lilly and Sally are working on singularity bombs though and those should be...fun..." Nemesis stared at the fallen Dark Lord a moment before shrugging, not much he can do about mad genii regardless.**

**"Ok, final question," the writer stated glad this was coming to an end, he needed a Monster or a massive mug of coffee at this point. "This one is for Lilly, 'In the end what did you do with the Philosopher Stone?'"**

**The girl tilted her head to the side a moment before shrugging, "Auntie Bella is experimenting with it, honestly I'm incredibly wealthy already and none of my family are obsessed with living forever. I'm sure Auntie Bella already figured out how to brew the Elixir of Life but I really doubt she stopped there. When I need the stone I know where it's at and I'll have adult supervision when I use it. I'm not a megalomaniac, when I decide to commit a crime against nature, I'll ask the expert herself."**

**Smiling Nemesis turned away from the group and tossed his papers to the ground, "Ok, finally done and over with, if you people want more of these leave reviews, if you don't whatever fine, honestly 'Red Mage, Looking For Group' is taking up alot of my time regardless. So here's what I have written so far for this current chapter. Annnnnnd before any of you bitch about how short it is let me make something clear.**

**"As a writer it is painfully difficult to write certain characters, Dumbledore is...one of those, and he was featured prominently in this. Give me crazy, give me adorable, give me scheming, I can handle it in seconds. Give me a second guessing half senile light aligned wizard who constantly pulls off shit that would be better attributed to a dark lord? Ugh...Such a pain."**

* * *

Albus rubbed his temples slowly as phoenix song filled the otherwise silent office, Fawkes doing his level best to lift his long time friend's ailing spirits. Despite this, the lilting and upbeat melody did little more then keep his despair from overwhelming him, the normal peace he felt at hearing such a wonderful sound lost in the wake of tonight's revelations.

He had failed, irrevocably and so fully that none could ever hope to justify his actions. His careful machinations to turn Lillith Potter into a weapon of the light had been derailed for years and he hadn't even been aware of it. Sighing he turned his gaze to the silently waiting man before him, Severus as always showing bland interest in his surroundings and little more, betraying none of his coveted thoughts.

"How long..." He really didn't feel like speaking at the moment and his brusqueness was rather indicative of this. Severus being who he was picked up on this rather quickly and filled the silence to the best of his abilities.

"Spring of 1987, she apparated before my home bloody and broken begging for my help. She'd been quite literally raped to near death by Petunia's husband and her magic had drawn her to me to try and save her." Albus tried but couldn't fight back the tears that fell down his wrinkled cheeks, Fawkes ceased his singing and turned to the Potions Master with what looked like horrified shock in his black gaze.

"And the Dursley's?" Albus really didn't want to know at this point but the sneer that curled of Severus' lips let him know that the answer was likely far more violent then he would have hoped. Although... As much as Albus believed in second chances, this...this was was child, an innocent left in their care...

"As far as I can tell, burned to death that very evening, I didn't particularly care to follow up on the situation if I am to be honest. I had a daughter to nurse back to health after all and their deaths meant little to me other then saved effort." Albus sighed yet again as he spun his chair to stare out the window, the dark expanse of the moonlit school grounds giving him no answers as he searched his soul for an excuse for his actions.

"How does she view me?" Severus, for the first time in this meeting looked a bit apologetic as he prepared his reply, in all honesty this courtesy was more then he deserved but Albus really did appreciate it none the less.

"She despises you with every fiber of her being. She blames you for what happened to her birth parents, for what befell the Longbottoms, for her Godfather's illegal imprisonment, for being forced to live with muggles that hated her. She quite literally hates you more then she does the Dark Lord himself..."

Albus cradled his face in his hands while letting out a tired sigh, it was worse then he had suspected, which if truth were to be told was rather impressive. He really had no illusions on how badly he cocked this one up.

"I...see...and why has it taken so long for you to bring this to my attention?" Severus shot him an incredulus look before he responded, the fact that he hadn't shielded his emotions on the matter conveyed his honest surprise.

"Headmaster, allow me elucidate the matter for you. We have gathered evidence that you arranged for me to overhear that drunks prophecy, that you arranged for the Potters and Longbottoms to be compromised, and you allowed the Dark Lord to strike them in the hopes that it would finally end his insane campaign."

To say that Albus was horrified at this accusation, well, he really didn't have the words to describe what he was feeling at the moment.

Severus though continued showing some open hostility now, "So after my best friend and James were murdered-" he paused as the Headmaster raised a single brow at the lack of venom in the potion masters voice. "-Oh yes," he continued, "I gave up that old feud the day I brought Lilly to meet the Lupins, while I'll never be 'mates' with either the wolf or mutt I can at least be friendly towards them for her sake."

Albus wanted to be surprised but really, he shouldn't be. After all Severus _was_ a spy that survived being a part of Tom's inner circle, faking vitriol towards those he had previously hated was not out of the realm of possibility.

Severus once again continued with a roll of his eyes, "I digress. After the Potters are murdered you whisk off their injured little girl and leave her on the Dursleys doorstep in the middle of the night, in _November_ may I add, honestly Headmaster what were you thinking? She then suffers the life of a slave for years and then is subjected to one of the worst crimes that can be brought against a person ostensibly by one of those that were supposed to be her caretakers. So yes Headmaster, 'Despise' may even be too light of term but it is all I really have to convey her feelings concisely."

Albus remained silent for a few moments before deciding to stop feeling sorry for himself, removing his half-moon spectacles he placed them on the desk and began rubbing his eyes slowly.

Eventually he had cleared his thoughts enough to speak again, "Severus, please give me all the details on why she blames me because, much to my shame I am guilty of having a hand in what has befallen her. That being said...I think you all may have been giving me far more credit then I deserve." With that Severus' brow furrowed, it was going to be a long night it would seem, but at least he may finally get some answers.

* * *

Lilly sat across from Tom in their mindscape library, the older man not meeting her gaze as she gently tapped her fingers against the fine oak table separating them. It was clear that the former Dark Lord didn't wish to speak of what he had let slip out but as they say the cat was out of the bag and now he had to pay the price. Lilly paused at that reflecting a moment on how horrible that saying was, but pushed that aside for the time being.

"Sooo..." She began hesitently, "Anything you want to clarify here Tom?" The stoic young man closed his eyes and after a moment pinched the bridge of his nose while his brow furrowed in frustration.

"No, not really," he shot out quickly.

Lilly simply let an eyebrow raise as she drawled out her reply, "Really, nothing about having oh I don't know, a Lolita complex or something?" He groaned at that as he leaned into his chair, he finally met her gaze to find his first and only friend smirking at him in wry amusement, obviously taking no offense to her own observations and finding more entertainment value in it then not.

"You know I think they should just call your family the Most Deviant and Ancient House of Black with how unmoved you are about that prospect Love."

She snorted in turn, "Tom I've literally been your only human contact for the past seven years on top of which you've been my teacher and friend throughout the worst and best times of my life. I'm not offended that you think you love me at all, the thing is what do you want to do about it?"

He blinked once, looked away, blinked again and for the first time in his life didn't have an answer, "I...don't know..."

She rolled her eyes while sighing, "Of course not, tell the girl whose head you currently reside in that you love her and have no long term plans on what to do about it. Men, really."

They sat in silence for a time before Tom hesitantly spoke, "I...didn't really know I was falling for you _that_ way until Hermione made her move, when you two were together, when you kissed, when you cuddled I felt..."

He paused for a moment but Lilly spoke up in turn. "Jealous, I take it?"

As Tom tasted her words he began shaking his head in the negative before pausing the motion and nodding his affirmation. "Yes, quite jealous actually. But...I didn't begrudge you or her, unfortunately the longer it went on the stronger the emotion got until I realized what it meant. Somehow, I'd fallen in love with you, which is quite burdensome since even _if_ I could take physical form again, and the method I had in mind worked, I'd still be older then you even in my teenage form. And well...there would still be Hermione and...she has been nothing but a loyal friend to you and I wouldn't want to get in the way no matter how much I really _want_ to."

Her brows rose at that, "Tom, are you saying there is a way for you to regain your body?"

He froze at that then raised a hand shaking it back in forth in a 'kinda sorta' manner. "Yes but it's...risky, you know how I made multiple horcruxes yes?" She nodded at this, "Well counting you I made five, with that...thing floating around out there being the sixth. Overall plan was actually to have seven in total but the whole dying thing kind of ruined that."

She gaped at that, "Bloody hell Tom, if you used the same botched ritual as the first time-"

He interupted her with a snort, "Quite, Voldemort is but a sliver of sliver of a soul now, the thing is I...I'm fairly certain, no I _am_ certain that my own soul has begun to heal while being trapped in your head. I've felt more human, more alive then I have in decades being with you and...well I truly regret ever making those bloody things. There is a ritual, it is complex, it is dangerous, and it could easily backfire, where I can merge with the soul containers, taking over their personalities and powers one by one and become whole.

"What makes it so dangerous is there is a chance that while I'm absorbing them, they could absorb _me_, so you see I'm rather hesitant to try it." Lilly stood up when he was done speaking and walked around the table to stare down at Tom, the pair locked eyes and remained that way for quite some time.

She reached her hand out and cupped his face, running her thumb down the smooth skin as she spoke. "Tom, would it be worth it?" He leaned into her hand absorbing the warmth for a time, closing his eyes he let himself enjoy the contact before eventually matching her gaze once again.

"I don't want to ruin what you and Hermione have," he sounded a bit dejected and that statement alone made it very clear how much he had grown as a person. Voldemort would have never conceded to letting go of something he saw as his, Tom though...Tom wanted her to be happy, it made her heart flutter a bit.

Licking her dry lips slowly she replied to her first friend, "Tom, _is_ there a chance it could work, that you could be whole?" She was rather sure she sounded like a broken record but Tom didn't seem to mind as he let out a now exasperated sigh.

"Yes," he began, "There is a damn good chance I could pull it off, it will take quite a bit of time to prepare the ritual, years perhaps. We'd need the philosophers stone back from your aunt, and to gather most of the horcruxes but yes."

She smirked at that as she cooed out, "Good," and leaned forward pressing her lips to his. Tom groaned in pleasure as he pulled her close, snaking her legs onto his lap she began working her hands through his thick hair as they snogged for a few minutes. Breaking the embrace they stared at each other with naked hunger but used their iron wills to beat back the lust. Breathing heavily they just sat there for a time, perfectly content with basking in the others presence.

Eventually Tom found enough of his wits to speak again, "What about Hermione?" She tilted her head to the side and grinned widely, now that he was being honest with himself the gesture turned the former Dark Lord on more then he'd like to admit.

"Well..." she began sounding slightly coy, "What did you call it before? The Most Deviant and Ancient House of Black? If I can talk her into it, I'm not adverse to sharing."

He blinked at that, "Wait, what?" Grinning still she leaned forward kissing him deeply once again, pulling back she slid off his lap as she began fading back into the real world.

"I'm a selfish girl Tom, I take what I want, and I give nothing up without a fight. I have a young lady I love, and I have a man I love, I might be a bit broken but you know what? I don't mind at all. Figure out your ritual and we'll talk later Tom." With that he was left to stare at where she had been standing, a blank look overtaking his face.

Eventually he began chuckling, it was a small thing, but his amusement was evident, resting his elbow on the chairs arm he dropped his head into his hand smiling wistfully. What a woman.


	48. No More Lies, Miss Potter

**HA! I've been building up to this for so long and I'm soooooo sorry it took me forever to write this but what can I say, Dumbles. This isn't Dumbledore's redemption, rather this is Lilly coming to the startling realization that she _isn't_ as unique as she thought she was, and it's going to play mayhem with her preconceived notions.**

* * *

Lillith awoke in exactly the position she anticipated, that is to say tucked in her regular bed in the infirmary. Staring at the ceiling a few moments she eventually let out a quiet sigh as she threw her arm over her eyes mumbling in irritation.

"Why, _why_ do I always pass out after I do something amazing?" There was a brief chuckle to her side and she quickly turned her head to meet the gaze of the Meddler himself, who was currently watching her with a sad look on his face.

"That dear girl is because you are one of the most magically powerful youths Britain has ever seen yet you are still a _youth_ regardless. Channeling that much energy at once is...taxing for someone with a still maturing magical core, luckily your resilience knows no bounds."

Staring at the man a few moments she eventually replied, "Hello Headmaster, are Hermione and the Professors' Lupin ok?"

He smiled as he began stroking his long beard in obvious amusement, "Miss Granger is, if I am to be blunt, quite cross with you. Apparently she was most unimpressed with your 'Saving People Thing' as she put it and wishes you to know she is supposed to be at your side, not hiding behind your skirts."

Lillith groaned at that knowing she was going to pay for her over protective nature later which caused the old man to laugh a bit at her expense. "Moony is currently sleeping off the stunner you hit him with until he comes back to his senses, good show by the way, and Bellatrix was taken to Saint Mungos due to her contractions. As for if she has given birth yet or not I do not know"

Mildly miffed that she was going to miss the birth of her cousin the young teen eventually settled with asking, "How long have I been out?"

He sighed at that suddenly looking quite a bit older then he had before. "Around four hours, enough time to have a talk with Severus on the nature of your relationship with him."

Oh. Damn.

Her eyes widening in panic he raised a hand to stall Lilly's inevitable freak out, "Peace child, I...no...no that won't do, you're not a child anymore are you? Haven't been in some time..." Well that was new she'd admit, eventually he nodded to himself as if coming to a decision. "Do you know what a magical vow entails and how...dangerous they can be for those who make them?"

She blinked in open surprise at that non sequitur which had the old man chuckle a bit once again, eventually she nodded slowly in return. "Err, yes you swear on your very magic that what you are saying or doing is exactly how it is, if you're lying your magic leaves you...and you die."

He nodded solemnly at that as he drew his wand, it was a knobbly thing and for some reason the sight of it made her heart quicken, Lillith had no idea why but she felt an innate connection to the slender bit of wood.

"I Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore do so swear on my magic that what I am about to tell one Lady Slytherin, Lillith Dorea Potter-Peverell-Black is the truth as far as I am aware, so mote it be." She gasped in a sharp breath as a brief flash of light lit between the pair, blinking rapidly Lilly met Dumbledore's gaze as she absorbed the enormity of what he had just done.

"As you well know, you were placed with the Dursley's ostensibly because no other guardians were available and they were your closest blood relatives. As you also know, this was a falsehood, I did in fact leave you there despite you having at least Severus as a potential caretaker," she growled at that but he ignored her moving on. "What you do not know was there was a reason for it, you see I had constructed a rather elaborate runic bloodward around the Dursley home linked to the very magic of your mothers sacrifice.

"_If_ everything had worked as intended, you, the Dursleys, and your home would all be protected from the evils of the world until you reached your magical maturity, which is typically around the age of seventeen."

Lillith stared at him coldly, taking in a calming breath she eventually let it out as she replied, "What went wrong?"

He frowned deeply at that, "Severus and Minerva both pointed out my folly but I thought they couldn't possibly be right, how could anyone hate their own family, much less the child of ones fallen sister?" Not really an answer, she was about to point that out when he continued, "You see Miss Potter, the wards were supposed to be fueled by that which drove your mother to sacrifice her life for you. Namely, familial love."

She couldn't help it, she broke out laughing, it was dark, cynical, and even a bit mad, yet Dumbledore sat in resigned silence taking the ridicule as stoically as possible. Eventually she calmed down enough to respond but honestly didn't know what to say. Sensing this he spoke again, this time sounding frustrated with himself.

"I had built a series of monitoring devices bound to the wards to keep track of your health, do not think I just abandoned you, please. While the situation hadn't been perfect I wanted to do everything to ensure your safety, sadly the devices while functioning never actually activated because-"

She groaned at that as she slammed her head into her pillow, "Because they were attached to the bloodwards that never activated due to there being no love for me in the household."

He nodded, "Quite."

After a time she finally let her curiosity get the better of her, "What about setting up Sirius and the Longbottoms?"

That actually caused him to shoot her a rueful smile, "As I told Severus earlier, that...was an unfortunate coincidence that happened to interlink perfectly with several other coincidences, along with what actually happened to give the impression that I am an all seeing Machiavellian master. Alas while I am as they say, good, I am not _that_ good." Raising an incredulous brow she allowed the man to continue, this was not at all what she had expected.

"While I had in fact bound young Mister Pettigrew as your families secret keeper I had also received a missive from your father a few weeks later telling me that he had made Sirius the secret keeper after the fact. I believed him mostly because I didn't expect him to outright lie to me, not to mention the extra effort he had made discussing your mother's annoyance at choosing Peter to begin with. She had never really trusted him you see, I now suspect that her unease was in part due to his animagus form which are after all reflections of your inner self."

Lillith hadn't actually known that but as she thought about it it made sense to an extent. She and Hermione were clever and cunning, by all accounts her father had been a very proud man, and Sirius was deathly loyal. "Smart woman," she eventually seethed out, he nodded then continued.

"As for the Longbottoms, that was just bad luck, Frank and Alice were two of the most dangerous aurors in the entire corps, they fought fire with fire as the saying goes and were on the top of Death Eater's hit list. When they came out of hiding well..."

Lilly let out a tired sigh, "They came out of hiding and drew the Death Eaters to them like moths to the flame..."

Dumledore smiled sadly at that, "An apt analogy young lady, the Longbottoms did not go quietly into the night, nearly a dozen of Tom's most dedicated followers attacked their family. Two walked away, one was captured shortly thereafter due to his injuries and the other was sold out by an incarcerated colleague."

Lilly returned the smile thinking fondly of her god-brother, "I don't doubt it, Nev had to get it from somewhere."

They sat in comfortable silence for a time as the old man popped a lemon drop in his mouth, offering one to Lilly she accepted it and enjoyed the tart sweetness as she mulled over her thoughts. Tom had, oddly enough remained silent throughout this revelation and when she poked at where he normally resided he seemed reluctant to come out. Considering their prior discussion she figured he wanted some alone time.

"Headmaster," she began slowly, "I...have hated you most of my life, you were the singular focal point of my spite and rage. I blamed you for everything and now that I know that...that all I've gone through was little more then a series of coincidences connected with your folly...I...I have no idea what to feel anymore... I had such...grand plans...and now...I don't even know if they're reasonable to pursue."

He remained silent for a time, then he took a gamble. "When I was a young lad, my little sister Ariana was attacked by muggles, she was gravely injured and suffered great damage to her mind and magic. It was a devastating event for both her and our family, she had...so much potential, she may have even been as powerful as you but...without the control necessary to wield her power, she became erratic.

"My father, in his rage at what had befallen his child attacked the muggles in revenge, he soon was sent to Azkaban for what he had done. In fear of what would happen to Ariana he remained silent as to why he had hurt those boys. He died in prison never seeing his family again..." Lillith stared at him in shock but he pushed on. "My mother Kendra, bless her, moved our young family to Godric's hollow where, I will admit, I was bored out of my mind." Lilly snorted at that while the Headmaster smiled in turn.

"While my mother took care of Ariana I went to Hogwarts and soon proved that I was in fact rather talented, as the years passed by I made many wonderful friends and quite simply enjoyed life." He fell silent after this before pinching the bridge of his nose, "On the eve of my departure of my Grand Tour of the world with my good friend Elphias tragedy struck. Ariana lost control of her magic and killed my mother in the resulting explosion."

Lilly just looked down at the bed sheets unsure of what to say to the old man opening up like this. For starters, it was making it very hard to hate him as much as she had in the past.

"I was suddenly the man of the household, everything was my responsibility and while Abe tried to help he was still too young to truly understand the burden that was placed on me." He rubbed his hands down his face before dropping them back into his lap, "Much to my shame I resented them all so much I cannot even begin to describe it Miss Potter. I was one of the most gifted wizards in the world, I had my entire future ahead of me, and I had to babysit my insane sister after she had accidentally murdered our mother while suffering under the judging stares of my little brother."

His next smile was bittersweet, "Then I met the love of my life, Gellert Grindelwald, and well...things didn't seem that bad after that."

Lilly's eyes widened as she processed that, "Yo-you fell in love with the Dark Lord Grindelwald?!"

He chuckled at that patting his knee in amusement, "_Future_ Dark Lord my dear. I was taken by his ideals of wizarding domination over the muggles, how could I not be after what befell my family? I was enraptured, he embodied everything I wanted to be and then...then Aberforth reminded me of Ariana, the little sister I had been neglecting to nurture my new found love for this man of vision.

"He was...furious with me, I was furious with him, and Gellert, well, he was never one to back down from a confrontation and a three way duel broke out between us. When the smoke settled...Ariana lay dead before us, Gellert fled while Abe and I stared down at her broken body, both burdened by the fact that she was gone because of _us."_

Lilly was openly crying now, knees pulled up to her chest, eventually she spoke up quietly, "And that's why it took you so long to move against him, you didn't want to fight the man you loved, or be confronted with what you had done again...but in the end it was only you who could defeat him."

He let out withering sigh as he nodded, "Yes...and I tell you this story Miss Potter not to justify my manipulations, not to try and gain pity, but rather I tell you this so your _own_ actions do not lead your love to the same fate as I."

Lilly turned to meet Dumbledore's now hardened gaze, "Do not make Miss Granger become the next Albus Dumbledore because her Gellert Grindelwald could not back down from her visions of conquest, Miss Potter." Lilly was speechless, completely and utterly, she just sat there as he fished into his pocket and pulled out a watch, looking at it a moment he smiled and rose from his seat.

"I do believe your girlfriend is anxiously waiting for you Miss Potter, do your best not to disappoint her." With that he swept out of the room and was soon replaced by a bushy haired projectile that latched onto her sobbing and cursing her the entire time.

Holding her bookworm tight Lilly stroked her back while muttering reassurances lost in thought, and came to the horrific realization that she finally understood Albus Dumbledore's motivation.

He no longer saw her as a weapon against Lord Voldemort, rather he saw his own history repeating itself, and he had just made his first move to try and perform damage control. She couldn't help it, she may still resent him, but now she respected the wily old bastard. Morgana help her.

* * *

**This was what I have been building up to, Dumbledore was worried about a repeat of Voldemort while cultivating a weapon against said menace. Instead his manipulations have recreated his own tragedy just in slow motion, I'm so glad this is finally written I so so hate writing a semi-understandable but still manipulative old man. Mostly due to the extreme amounts of editing involved...ugh...so lazy. Anyway please review!**


	49. The Godmother

**Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK! Ok, it's been a couple months and there is a reason for it. Simply put I wrote two chapters, each roughly 7k in length to end this year and summer and begin fourth year. I held off on posting them because I was hemming and hawing over whether I should make the beginning of fourth year a new story and make this one complete and then *zap*, lightning strike. I lost my gaming laptop (I'm going through Civ5 withdrawal) and my backup drive in the process and since I had no net connection at the time...no cloud backup. **

**So yeah, this is short, mostly because I despise writing the same thing twice when I don't get paid for it and have been focusing on other projects to get my mind off what happened. As it stands now that I have established Iris Potter as a character in '_Red Mage Looking For Group'_ and _'I Get Your Malfunction'_ I'm going back to Lillith and doing her justice, if you don't like this chapter I get it. Seriously I rushed through this because I didn't want to do it but I _had_ to if I wanted the story to continue.**

**Regardless, ANNOUNCEMENT! I'm actually rewriting this story chapter by chapter, getting rid of my old insane formatting (thank Philosophize for that one) and getting rid of plot holes pointed out by Belial666 and the like. This story has gotten so...strangely popular that I feel compelled to clean it up, so keep an eye out on that and thanks to every one of you glorious readers who leaves a review, your input makes me a better author.**

**As always, please enjoy and review! **

* * *

As things stood Hermione wasn't quite sure how to react to her girlfriends most recent antics. Yes it was romantic in a twisted way that the first time Lilly admitted to truly loving her was in a desperate attempt to save her soul from Dementors, and she really wasn't going to whinge about the effort thank you. But that was the thing though, she didn't need protecting, she should have been at her best friends side, where she belonged.

That, and Lillith really needed to relay her plans better.

Of _course_ her demonic summoning had been futile, the anchor Hermione had created was slap dash at best, while the Dementors had been sealed to this realm by a ritual so evil that even Professor Lupin declared it '_Black Magik_' rather then your plain vanilla dark.

Frankly Lillith could have summoned the Morning Star himself and it wouldn't have mattered due to how well established the Dementors were compared to _anything_ a pair of teenage witches could have come up with in a scant few minutes. This all ran through her mind as the young beauty in question held her close, and despite it all Hermione wanted to let the slightly unstable witch's actions slide, just being happy that Lilly was alive and still had her soul.

She was broken from her thoughts as Lillith spoke, "Mione... I need to tell you something... Ok?" Sitting up on the hospital bed Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled slightly as she nodded in turn.

"Of course Lilly, what is it?" Her girlfriend averted her eyes as she worried her lip, sighing she pinched the bridge of her nose a moment and the look of consternation crossing her face was a bit disconcerting. Eventually she dropped her hands into her lap and shook her head before continuing.

"Things...happened, in my head that is. With the Dementors...I...things changed, _I_ changed, and with Dumbledore's revelations I...hells bells..." Looking up she locked gazes with Hermione while giving her a weak smile, "I...we...fuck..."

"Language dear," Hermione stated automatically, blushing slightly as Lillith raised a single eyebrow in turn before letting out an amused snort. After a few moments Lillith wrapped her arms around Hermione's neck and pulled her forward, quite literally placing her in the raven haired witch's lap, then she kissed her.

It didn't have the manic 'I'm about to die so to hell with it' energy from earlier, and it lacked the restrained yet enjoyable vibe present in their normal snogging sessions. As Lilly's tongue licked Hermione's lips she allowed passage, their tongues dancing together as the younger witch ran her hands through her girlfriends bushy hair, and then Hermione finally pinned it down.

This was...sensual, more then physical pleasure or the experimentation they'd been going through the past several months. This was a Dark Witch staking her claim on something that she saw as _hers_.

It was both terrifying and arousing, and what did that say about Hermione?

She honestly did not have an answer to that.

Eventually breaking the embrace Lillith pulled back and stared into Hermione's eyes, face flushed, breathing heavily, and with obvious effort she pressed their foreheads together as she reeled back her libido.

"I love you Hermione...never...never think otherwise, no matter what happens to me, or what I may do, know that hurting you is hurting myself. You...are my truest, dearest, most loyal friend...and I will never betray that... Just...know that I'm messed up ok? Remember I'm not normal... I... want us to stay together for as long as you can put up with me... But things are changing, will change, things that you might not be able to handle."

Lilly scoffed as her eyes rolled to the ceiling, "And now we have to worry about Death Eaters grabbing me for a ritual to return a completely insane Dark Lord back to the physical realm...idiots..." Hermione realized there that Lillith was rambling, and more importantly avoiding the point of her monologue, but that was fine. If she wasn't ready to share, well, she could wait.

"Normal is boring Lilly, you know that," her green eyed witch smirked knowingly as she nodded in agreement. "And whatever it is bothering you, remember that I will always be at your side, in this world and into the next, you're stuck with me."

Lillith looked pained at that as she let her head fall on Hermione's shoulder with a groan, "We're kids! Why do we even have to think about, much less deal with crap like this!?"

Hermione snorted at that while rolling her eyes, "Correction dear, we're _teenagers_ which automatically makes things more complicated. Add in our time turner antics making us nearly a year older then we should be along with being powerful witches constantly stuck in a series of insane events and well... You get the point..."

Lillith sighed yet again before raising her head back up, "Ok...right...how about we deal with all of this emotional turmoil later? First things first, I'm getting some sleep. Then tomorrow I intend to visit Auntie Bella at the hospital and meet my new little cousin, hopefully Uncle Moony isn't too cross with me for the stunner... Ah well. Anyway I have to ask dad if it's ok first obviously but did you wanna come along?"

Hermione just shook her head slowly as she kissed Lilly one last time, "Of course, you didn't have to ask you know." With the cat out of the bag as it were with their relationship, at least to the Headmaster, Hermione didn't bother leaving. Rather she pulled back the covers and spooned her girlfriend as the slightly conflicted witch pulled the blankets back over them.

It was a weird end to a weird evening, neither of them really knowing what the future held, while Lillith kept her silence on the entire Tom situation. She wouldn't keep quiet about it for long, that would be counter productive and...dishonest...and being dishonest to Hermione left a bad taste in her mouth. For tonight though, well...she'd just enjoy being held.

* * *

Bellatrix Lupin was exhausted yet exhilarated. Sure sure every woman in the world was capable of being a gestation sack and she was nothing special, blah blah blah, but that didn't matter at the moment. As she held her new born son she couldn't help grinning like the admittedly mad witch that she was, and the moment was made only that much better as her sisters cooed over her.

"Oh he is so cute!" Cissy gushed as she leaned down and brushed the boys scant blonde hair about, "Hopefully he has your husbands restraint, I don't think the world could handle a second you dear sister."

Andromeda snorted at that, being the witch who had delivered the child she felt she had the right to her own opinion, thank you. "Hardly, he was just as stubborn as Bella ever was, I'm just glad there weren't any...complications..."

Complications meaning the passing on of the werewolf curse of course, Fate had smiled on the newly born family in that regard.

Bella though had differing opinions, "Oh there's already a second me running around out there, my daughter is quite the trouble maker at Hogwarts." Narcissa and Andromeda met each other's gaze then promptly rolled their eyes; each of the Black sisters saw Lillith as their daughter, and frankly there was no reason to argue the point further. They'd just have to out spoil each other, and hope cousin Jamie's little girl didn't catch on and exploit it for her own gains.

Which was to be expected of course, she was a Black after all.

As the three sisters bantered the door to the room creaked open admitting a very ragged looking man closely followed by another trio of witches and a black dog. Remus Lupin took in his tired, yet glowing wife and the bundle in her arms stoically, although internally Moony was howling with joy.

"Bella love, sorry I wasn't here, werewolf thing...our...son?" He asked this with a bit of confusion, the infants smell was off...it rather reminded him of Nymphadora actually, how odd.

Grinning the new mother waved to her husband, niece, daughter, her daughter's girlfriend, and her idiot cousin happily, "I'd like you all to meet Leo James Lupin, say hello Leo!" The baby took in the new arrivals and gurgled happily causing all females present to coo at once, both Remus, and the now shifted back to human form Sirius found this reaction to be unsettling to say the least.

As the witches gossiped Sirius sidled up to Remus grinning widely, yet lacking the manic energy he usually put into it. "Well Moony my friend what does it feel like to be a father?"

The werewolf stared at his newborn son a few moments then shook his head slowly, "Terrifying? Yeah...Terrifying..." He hadn't told Sirius or...anyone outside of Dumbledore about Peter's revelations yet due to the rather horrible time of delivery. Simply put the fact that he not only had a wife and niece to keep safe from Death Eaters...but now a newborn son as well scared him beyond words.

He was terrified...terrified and angry, Moony wouldn't let anyone harm his pack...and his terror was further exacerbated by the fact that he was in full agreement with his brutal werewolf side...

"Ah well, look on the bright side of it all, you can't possibly do a worse job then I would!" Sirius pouted as every woman in the room 'Mmhmm'd' at once, Remus barely restrained his laughter at this reaction. Eventually Bella motioned him over and he accepted the small bundle and began gently swaying him back and forth muttering nonsense words to his son. His _son_. Would wonders never cease?

Hermione turned to the bed bound witch as this was occurring with a look of curiosity on her face, "So why Leo? It isn't a bad name at all, just curious."

Her response came from an unexpected source, Lillith was staring at the newborn with a far off look in her eyes, smiling slightly as she spoke. "Black family naming conventions, usually, not always but usually all members of the family have either a constellation, star, or flower in their name. Leo fits the criteria while being a bit cheeky about it, sticking to convention by naming him a lion."

Hermione smiled at that nodding as Bella spoke up, "A name fit for the son of a Marauder and the daughter of the House of Black, yes? Lillith dear, can you come here?" Breaking her gaze from the newborn Lilly nodded and approached the bed, Bellatrix grasped her hands gently as she smiled at her daughter, "Dearest, do you know what is entailed in being a Godparent?"

Lillith worried her lip a moment while glancing to Sirius then nodded slowly, "Yes, if something happens to the parents, it's the Godparent's responsibility that the child be raised as they would have seen fit. Not necessarily their guardian but someone who made sure they understood their parents beliefs, they make sure the child knows what they would have learned had their parents been there."

Bellatrix smiled at that as Remus approached the pair, surprised Lillith accepted the small bundle handed to her by her uncle and she was caught off guard as the squirming child met her gaze with his baby blue eyes. Baby blues that shifted to emerald green for the briefest of moments causing her to gasp lightly.

"Lillith, we've decided that if anything were to happen to us, Leo would be left in Andi and Cissy's care, but...if you think you're up to it, we'd like you to be his Godmother. Teach him how to be a mad scientist like his mum, teach him how to be a stoic scholar like his dad, teach him how to be...him."

Remus cut in there as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Would you be willing to do this for us Lilly?"

Lillith's eyes widened in shock as she turned to Hermione who was smiling at her, looking back down at the giggling baby in her arms Lillith couldn't help the grin that overtook her face.

"Of course."

* * *

**My plan is for Lilly to treat Leo like a little brother/apprentice later on in life, honestly how Sirius should have treated Harry rather then being a dumbass chasing after Wormtail. Anyway, you finally got your update! Rejoice!**


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